Illustration by Neelam Khan
Adolescence is hard. Emotions run hot and nuclear as you yearn for the sweet escape of a diploma. Relationships are difficult as you’re finding out who you really are and discovering how to be happy. Your parents can seem to be your worst enemies at some moments and the only people you can confide in during others.
Movies are constantly trying to explore this topic because it is so ripe with emotional material. Almost anyone can make a teen movie, but it takes someone with incredible finesse and understanding to do it well. This is where Lady Bird comes in. I’ve seen a million movies like it before but I also haven’t seen it done like this. There is a certain specialness and honesty to it that makes it feel personal and identifiable. This is probably the best coming-of-age movie of all time and is definitely one of the best movies of the year.
Lady Bird is about Christina “Lady Bird” McPherson’s senior year of high school. She lives in a Sacramento suburb on the so-called wrong side of the tracks. Dreaming of something more, Lady Bird has to deal with finding out who she really is, before she can graduate and go to college (hopefully on the East Coast). This movie has one of the best screenplays in recent memory.
Greta Gerwig, who directed the movie, also wrote the screenplay, which speaks to how honest and personal it all is. With a run time of only an hour and a half, every moment feels important, and Lady Bird never outstays its welcome. My favorite type of movie is one that can make you laugh and cry, and this definitely did the job. It was one of the rowdiest audiences I had experienced for a movie in recent years. There is so much heart in this story, and it delivers it in a way only coming-of-age stories can. It really characterizes the transition between teenager and adult.
This movie is so incredibly well-cast. If you look at the cast online, it looks like they hand-picked all of the promising young actors, and, while this is true, they are promising for a reason. Saoirse Ronan steals the show as Lady Bird. She understands this character, and it never comes across as forced. It’s also incredibly nuanced and makes the audience love her. She was nominated for her first Academy Award at age thirteen, and, after her work in this movie, she’ll surely receive another. Another highlight is Laurie Metcalf as Marion, Lady Bird’s mother.
There is one scene toward the end that really illustrates her power as an actress, as there is no dialogue, but she keeps us engrossed for minutes as she goes on a complete emotional journey. Another thing this movie does well is the cinematography. It does a really good job of showing the banality of suburbia while also highlighting that, though it is bland, there are hidden gems and beauties that can only be found by someone who lived there.
A line that really stuck with me is that loving something is the same as noticing it, paying attention. I noticed this movie. I noticed it with all of its perfect imperfections, all of its fluorescent highs and lows, and all of the love that radiated from it. This movie is a singular gem. This isn’t Greta Gerwig’s story, but all of our stories.