Genre: Comedy
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges
Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson is in her last year at a Catholic school. She has big dreams of leaving her hometown of Sacramento and heading to the East Coast to study at a prestigious arts college. This puts a strain on her relationship with her mother who thinks she is very ungrateful and unaware of the family’s struggles.
‘Lady Bird’ was everything I wanted to be – a wonderful directorial debut from Greta Gerwig. It is an incredibly honest and funny coming-of-age story that is easy to relate to. One might not have lived a similar situation, but everyone has been a teenager at some point in their lives.
Themes explored throughout the truly enjoyable 94-minute long film include a teenager’s feeling of entrapment and their desire to break free and explore the wider world, a person’s sexual awakening, the strain that puberty can put on the relationship between a mother and her daughter and some teenagers’ desire to becoming popular and date the cool guy.
Greta Gerwig has delivered a truly remarkable debut. The script, which she has also written, is witty and incredibly funny with some very moving passages. You can tell that the story is semi-biographical and that she draws from her personal experiences of growing up in Sacramento because it is honest and it feels like she hasn’t left out any relevant elements to the tale. It is fair to say that Greta Gerwig is a creative force of nature.
Saoirse Ronan plays Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson and once again delivers a award-worthy performance. Her talent as an actress knows no bounds. She is only 23 and has already been nominated for an Academy Award three times. Her performance as rebelling teenager Lady Bird is one hundred per cent believable.
Laurie Metcalf, who plays Lady Bird’s mother, also delivers a powerful performance, honestly portraying a mother’s wish for a daughter to be the best version of herself and to reach her full potential. The role also explores a mother’s awareness of her child growing up and her resistance to let her go.
‘Lady Bird’ is a very special tale about what it’s like to grow up. I can’t wait to see what Greta Gerwig has in store for us next.
> Naomi Round
