Good news? Parkinson’s claims the life of Nancy’s (Andrea Riseborough) repugnantly overweening mother (Ann Dowd). (Writer/director Christina Choe‘s maiden feature begins in the 4x3 ratio; with mom out of the picture the frame expands to 16x9 to symbolically afford Nancy a little more breath-ing room.) Bad news? Nancy’s talked a seemingly decent online acquaintance (John Leguizamo) into thinking she’s pregnant. That is, until he catches her in the supermarket sans empathy belly. The courtship ends in the parking lot; a precisely blocked scene begins with Leguizamo in hot pursuit and culminates with the poor shnook making a hasty retreat. What’s next? How about bamboozling a married couple (played with equal doses of confusion and conviction by Steve Buscemi and J. Smith-Cameron) into believing that she’s their daughter who went missing over thirty years ago? Prepare yourself: it’s not often that a movie presents us with a central character as unremittingly sad as this. Riseborough also produced and her faith in the project is felt in every subtle facial inflection. (2018) — Scott Marks
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