Flower
2017 · Directed by Max Winkler
Original language: English
- comedy
- drama
The story
Rebellious, quick-witted Erica Vandross is a 17-year-old firecracker living with her single mom, Laurie, and her mom's new boyfriend, Bob, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. When Bob's mentally unbalanced son, Luke, arrives from rehab to live with the family, Erica finds her domestic and personal life overwhelmed. With Luke and her sidekicks Kala and Claudine in tow, Erica acts out by exposing a high school teacher's dark secret.
What it’s like
Bright, flat Valley daylight over stucco cul-de-sacs, pastel suburban interiors, and tidy, wide-angle domestic framing that makes every awkward dinner look slightly staged. The palette is sun-washed and clean, with the occasional sharp jolt of colour in a teenager's outfit or a pool float, and the camera tends to hold on faces during uncomfortable pauses rather than cutting away. The mood is sardonic and jittery, a dark-comic vibe with a restless, acid-tinged energy that suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a late-night stream when you want something sharper than cosy, or a day when you're in the mood for the squirm of watching people behave badly. Its rhythm is brisk and quippy, and its central figure, a 17-year-old who lashes out at everyone around her, slowly reveals her own loneliness and need for a steadier adult. Intensity is moderate: frequent crude and sexual humour, some sexual content and predatory behaviour that is discussed more than shown, and an unstable character whose behaviour can turn frightening, but no graphic violence. Not gentle. For viewers who like prickly, morally messy comedy about adolescence and blended families, and who don't mind their laughs coming with an edge.
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