Holler movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: Holler

OPENS IN SELECT THEATERS AND ON-DEMAND/DIGITAL ON FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2021

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 30 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Thank you to IFC Films for sending me this press screener! The movie summary describes the film like this: In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery joins a dangerous scrap metal crew in order to pay her way. Together, they spend one brutal winter working the scrap yards during the day and stealing valuable metal from the once-thriving factories by night. With her goal in sight, Ruth finds that the ultimate cost of an education for a girl like her might be more than she bargained for, and she soon finds herself torn between a promising future and the family she would leave behind.

THINGS I LIKED:

Nicole Riegel is one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch in 2021”. This is her debut film as a director and a writer. What a great start!
There are no big-name actors in this movie. Everyone looks truly authentic like people you might actually know, and they all did a great job. The talented, believable cast includes Jessica Barden, Gus Halper, Pamela Adlon, and Becky Ann Baker.
I didn’t remember ever seeing Jessica Barden in anything before, even though she had a small role in the movie Far From the Madding Crowd, a movie I really enjoyed. I’m a new fan and look forward to seeing her in more films. She’s an English actress and has mesmerizing, blue eyes!
I enjoyed the nice-and-easy soundtrack.
I don’t know what it’s like to live in the exact environment featured in the film, but I definitely know what it’s like to work endless hours for a company that didn’t appreciate my efforts or sacrifices and then easily laid me off. No fun at all. I know I’m not the only one who has ever experienced that, especially during the pandemic, so I think this movie is very relatable and heartbreaking. Those are two qualities that make for a compelling story.
I teach for a university and love seeing movies that promote higher education. It always breaks my heart when new students tell me they’re nervous about starting their degree because they have always been told they’re “not college material.” With time, support, and hard work, almost everyone is college material!
There’s a bleakness to the color palette the film used, which perfectly represents the living conditions of the people in the story.
I always admire people who are willing to work hard to improve their situation, whether it’s trying to earn money, get into college, clean up to get out of rehab or whatever. This movie illustrates that kind of grit.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There are some shaky-cam moments in the opening sequence. That always makes me so dizzy. Bleh.
A lot of people will think “nothing happens” in the story, so they’ll be bored. Viewers who consider watching this movie need to know it’s more of a character study than an action movie!
The movie is mostly depressing with one small light of hope. Hope is everything.
That kiss….ick!

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be completely bored.
Profanity, including F-bombs
The kids visit their mom in Rehab.
Kids drink alcohol
Theft and dishonesty
Talk of pre-marital “relations”
Some political conversations among characters in the story.
You see and hear several clips of President Donald Trump talking about jobs in America.