B Directed by Sophia Takal Starring Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin Fitzgerald Review by Jon Kissel |  |
A tense two-hander for the #metoo movement, Sophia Takal’s Always Shine finds two women turning on each other when their real enemy is the system they’re stuck in. She formulates two approaches to a world run by men: one of compliance and one of resistance. The former provides plenty of social and material rewards, while the latter allows for integrity and isolation, especially when compliance-demanding men are the gatekeepers. Through the lens of the present moment, Always Shine provides a vision of alternate realities. Its two protagonists are both actresses, but the intransigent one is the superior talent while the compliant one is far more successful. They’re longtime friends, but friends with this rotten core at the center of their relationship. Takal tracks the spread of this rot over the course of an ill-fated vacation.
Always Shine stars Caitlin Fitzgerald as Beth and Mackenzie Davis as Anna. Beth is the successful one , though success is defined as compromise and exploitation and laughing off harassment. The viewer is introduced to Beth during an audition for a titillating horror film, complete with dirtbag casting agents who critique her body and call this professional woman diminutive pet names. Takal films this scene by having Beth look straight into the camera, nodding and smiling at each transgression against her dignity. Anna gets an identical introduction, but she’s nowhere near as pliant as Beth, and in the place of a casting director is a mechanic who tells her she would’ve gotten what she wanted if she was more ladylike. This is the dichotomy that Takal begins Always Shine with, where Beth has an easier time in the world by going with the flow while Anna can barely function in basic commerce.
Where Takal and writer Lawrence Michael Levine most succeed is in showing how both approaches leave much to be desired. Beth has the trappings of public success, with the requisite magazine articles and a steady, comfortable income, but she’s not respected as an actress, even by her own boyfriend. Anna has her dignity but little else. She works in student productions and is doing better work, but she’s lonely, has serious money troubles, and her holier-than-thou attitude means Beth is one of her only friends. Anna’s the talent that needs to be seen, passionately brought to life by Davis, but getting a job is not only about talent. She’s also vulnerable to black pits of resentment, which comes into play once the two women arrive at their vacation destination of an isolated cabin in the woods.
As the faults in Always Shine continue to fester, Takal engages in twistier and more disorienting visual storytelling that takes away from the exceptional work that Davis and Fitzgerald are putting in. Both actresses are given roles with high degrees of difficulty. Davis has to convince the viewer that Beth is so talented that her abrasiveness is worth it, while Fitzgerald has to play a self-consciously mediocre actor, something that she is decidedly not. When Always Shine is a push-and-pull duet between the two of them, it is keeping true to its title. The hyper-edited psychological thriller the film turns into is less impressive. Takal makes 80% of a great film about misguided anger and women not standing up for each other. The remainder detracts from the complex package. B
Where Takal and writer Lawrence Michael Levine most succeed is in showing how both approaches leave much to be desired. Beth has the trappings of public success, with the requisite magazine articles and a steady, comfortable income, but she’s not respected as an actress, even by her own boyfriend. Anna has her dignity but little else. She works in student productions and is doing better work, but she’s lonely, has serious money troubles, and her holier-than-thou attitude means Beth is one of her only friends. Anna’s the talent that needs to be seen, passionately brought to life by Davis, but getting a job is not only about talent. She’s also vulnerable to black pits of resentment, which comes into play once the two women arrive at their vacation destination of an isolated cabin in the woods.
As the faults in Always Shine continue to fester, Takal engages in twistier and more disorienting visual storytelling that takes away from the exceptional work that Davis and Fitzgerald are putting in. Both actresses are given roles with high degrees of difficulty. Davis has to convince the viewer that Beth is so talented that her abrasiveness is worth it, while Fitzgerald has to play a self-consciously mediocre actor, something that she is decidedly not. When Always Shine is a push-and-pull duet between the two of them, it is keeping true to its title. The hyper-edited psychological thriller the film turns into is less impressive. Takal makes 80% of a great film about misguided anger and women not standing up for each other. The remainder detracts from the complex package. B
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