It took a day to process, but Kajillionaire is a weird, warm cracker of a movie
Kajillionaire (12A), watched at The Luxe Cinema, Wisbech.
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins.
Director: Miranda July, running time: One hour 44 minutes.
The beauty of a visit to the cinema is, even in these times of limited releases, there there are so many different types of film.
There’s the big action movies or superhero flicks which take up an enjoyable couple of hours of your life and are then mostly forgotten about.
Then there’s the film, such as the recent 'Rocks', that move you so much you want to persuade as many people as possible to watch them and share your experience.
And, occasionally, there’s one like Kajillionaire, where you leave the cinema going through certain aspects of it in your mind, and taking a day or two to process it.
Directed and written by the former riot grrl Miranda July, the movie centres on a young woman whose life is turned upside down when her criminal parents invite an outsider to join them in their wrongdoing.
Star of the fim is Evan Rachel Wood who plays Old Dolio, named so by her parents in the hope that a dying cancer patient who won the Lottery may remember them in his will.
Old Dolio is damaged goods. She is a 26-year-old woman lacking in femininity, with no real emotions or grace, with long hair covering her face, ill-fitting, nondescript clothes and a monotone voice which all serve to give her an androgynous air.
She has been starved of love and affection throughout her life, fears the human touch and is seen by her parents just as one third of their low-level crime team.
Theresa (Winger) and Robert (Jenkins) are unconventional as people, let alone parents, living day by day, dollar by dollar, in an abandoned office next to a bubble factory.
Then enter pretty, effervescent Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) and Old Dolio's life is changed forever as she is given a glimpse of how other woman her age live – and it’s not a world she necessarily wants to jump into.
But when her parents' ventures become more sinister and one of the earth tremors, that have been a small feature of the film, hits, the girls hide in a restroom together, leading to a warm and uplifting finale.
Rating: 8/10
By Jeremy Ransome
Previously...
Witty satire 'The Forty-Year-Old Version' pokes fun at 'black poverty porn'
'Rocks' is one of the unmissable films of 2020
'Schemers' aims for cult classic status but it's no Trainspotting
'Broken Hearts Gallery' offers no surprises, but it's a genuine dollop of joy