Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Michelle Williams gives her all as a drifter just trying to make it in America

The Very Best

8.1

Movie

United States of America
English
Drama
2008
FEMALE DIRECTOR, KELLY REICHARDT
Ayanna Berkshire, David Koppell, Deirdre OConnell
81 min

What it's about

A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.

The take

Wendy (Michelle Williams) is a drifter driving up to Alaska in hopes of finding work. When her car breaks down, she and her dog Lucy are stranded and forced to scrounge for food and repairs, hitting one roadblock after another on her path to an uncertain dream. This sympathetic and solemn look at poverty from director Kelly Reichardt serves as a reminder of how easy it is to fall through the fragile American safety net.   

Reichardt’s uncompromising approach paired with Williams’s restrained performance makes the experience authentic and intense, recalling the work of Ken Loach. This natural sharpness makes for an engrossing watch that builds in power until the emotional release of the film’s heartbreaking conclusion. 

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