The Cinematheque

VIFF 2021

Seeing out her last year of high school, Carly (Jessica Clement) bides her time with quickies with her mouth-breathing boyfriend and all-night hangs with her bestie Laura (Alexandra McDonald), which sees them indulging in time-honoured rites of passage like getting high, learning power chords, brainstorming band names, and piercing themselves with safety pins. When Laura’s newly sober dad, Wayne (Nick Stahl), recommits himself to being a responsible parent, Carly single-mindedly sets about seducing him, threatening to shake both her and Laura’s broken homes to their foundations. With an eye for pop culture ephemera and an ear for naturalistic dialogue, Stephanie Joline capably translates the milieu and inner workings of teenage girls into an emotionally charged narrative that navigates the moral murkiness of agency, consent, and accountability. As its young protagonists experience the lasting consequences of their impulsive decisions, Night Blooms poses provocative questions about the limits of forgiveness and our capacity to live with certain mistakes.

Cast: Jessica Clement, Nick Stahl, Alexandra McDonald

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