Sometimes change comes from facing our past and moving on from rose-tinted memories that no longer serve us. That need for personal transformation sits at the heart of Saint Frances, and I Used to Go Here.
While Alex Thompson’s debut feature film, written by Kelly O’Sullivan, may, at first sight, appear to be a standard thirty-something tale of disillusionment, this delightful movie never falls into the usual tropes of the subject matter. Instead, Thompson offers us a comedy that bravely dissects modern neoconservative beliefs and celebrates the moment when we realise that nobody, no matter their age, really has life worked out.
Saint Frances is a movie that reflects the messy reality of our thirties as youth is replaced by responsibility and social pressures. Like many people in their mid-thirties, Bridget (Kelly O’Sullivan) is caught between a disappearing youth and the need to find something new, the adventure and excitement of her twenties fading, with little stimulation to replace it. Her relationship with Jace (Max Lipchitz) is trapped in a strange student haze neither can move beyond, and life seems confined to a carousel of repeating experiences.
When Bridget takes a summer job as a nanny to five-year-old Frances and her two mums, Maya and Annie, who have a new baby on the way, Bridget is so wrapped up in her internal battles that supporting a rambunctious and bright five-year-old seems the least of her problems.
However, caring for Frances is far from a walk in the park; she is willful and more than a bit put out by the imminent arrival of a sibling, yet also a source of stability as Bridget navigates her own choices. To Bridget, Maya and Annie are settled, loving mums and confident, career-minded women who only highlight her uncertainty and woes. However, as with all couples, there are challenges beneath the surface.
Saint Frances reflects the challenging decisions we all face at different points in our lives, as Thompson and O’Sullivan weave laugh-out-loud comedy with emotionally candid drama. The result is a fascinating and detailed character study of a woman searching for something new in an ocean of competing ideas and philosophies of what leads to happiness and contentment.
Like Bridget, Kate has felt the hope and excitement of youth fade, as adult realities bite in I Used to Go Here. It’s a feeling that has become even more intense as Kate’s friends, who once offered excitement, settle down into couples, have kids, and slowly forget she exists.
Kate Conklin (Gillian Jacobs) may have recently ended a relationship with her fiancé, but her first novel has just reached bookstore shelves; something to celebrate, right? Unfortunately, the book is not performing well, and her publishers have just cancelled a planned tour. Meanwhile, her friends are busy starting their own families, and Kate has a growing sense that she’s becoming a ghost during their rare get-togethers. But a glimmer of light appears courtesy of her former professor, David (Jemaine Clement), who invites her to speak at her old University. Kate excitedly accepts the offer, with her past crush on her professor reignited, but she is unprepared for the wave of nostalgia that washes over her as she arrives on campus.
As Kate settles into a B&B across the road from a student house of aspiring young writers led by Hugo (Josh Wiggins), she finds herself drawn to their youthful energy, excitement and late-night discussions. But reliving the past is never the answer to navigating your future. I Used to Go Here beautifully explores the turning points we reach in our lives and the need to move forward rather than backwards through a light-hearted, fresh, and engaging comedy/drama that never succumbs to the lazy stereotypes or clichés found in many back-to-college films.
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