‘Unpregnant’ road movie with personality

Films

dealing with reproductive rights don’t often announce it in the title. But “Unpregnant” is not a by-the-numbers entry into this genre and it is not coy about its subject matter. Based on a novel by Jenni Hendricks and Ted Caplan, this film is very unambiguously about abortion and what an ambitious 17-year-old Missouri girl must go through to get one without her parents’ permission.

But while abortion is the goal, it’s not the focus. Veronica, played by Haley Lu Richardson, is never in conflict about her decision. Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s film is very much a coming-of-age buddy comedy that’s a little tamer than “Booksmart” and a little more raucous than “Juno”, which is even referenced in the pop culture-heavy script.

For Veronica, a put-together student with a pink backpack, magazine-ready curls and an acceptance letter to Brown University in hand, the how is the problem. Her religious parents are out of the question, her boyfriend (Alex MacNicoll) isn’t being helpful (he immediately proposes marriage) and her girlfriends also don’t seem to be empathetic types. So as a very last resort, Veronica calls on Bailey (Barbie Ferreira), her childhood ex-best friend who now with her anarchic attitude, dark lipstick and goth-punk vibes could not be more of Veronica’s opposite. But Bailey has a car and she happened to walk into the girls’ bathroom while Veronica was taking the test so in no time they’re escaping in the middle of the night to journey from Columbia, Missouri to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Naturally things aren’t smooth on the road. The detail-oriented Veronica has to learn how to loosen up a little and these two have some open wounds from the unceremonious end of their friendship to resolve. Their trip gets much more complicated, however, when their car is taken out of commission and they’re left relying on the little money they have and the kindness of strangers to get them to their end point. And for the most part, the strangers are really, very kind. “Unpregnant” has a nice view of much of humanity, except for pro-life Christians that is.

Richardson is, unsurprisingly, quite winning as Veronica who easily could have been a caricature of a Type A woman. One does wonder how much longer the 25-year-old actor will have to keep playing high school students, though. And she has a fun counterpart in Ferreira’s Bailey, who also is more nuanced than her styling might suggest. It’s clear, in the best possible way, that these characters were adapted for the screen by women.

The script has moments of real humor, heart and wit, too. But it’s also a little overstuffed and goes off the rails with one over-the-top complication that it never quite recovers from. The third act also turns into a kitchen sink mish mash of plot contrivances including a very random Giancarlo Esposito cameo that doesn’t exactly add anything. There is a redemptive and touching finale that will pleasantly surprise, though.

Earlier this year there was another similarly themed film in Eliza Hittman’s poetic “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”. “Unpregnant” takes a much lighter approach, but they both arrive at the same, important place: Demystifying the decision and giving the agency back to its heroines.

“Unpregnant”, an HBO Max release, is rated PG13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “for mature thematic content, sexual content, strong language and some drug references”. Running time: 103 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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LOS ANGELES: The backlash to the French independent film “Mignonnes”, or “Cuties”, started before it had even been released because of a poster that went viral for its provocative depiction of its young female actors. But the spotlight has only intensified since the film became available on Netflix last week and it has become the target of heightened politicized outrage from members of Congress, including US Sen Ted Cruz of Texas, and others online calling for subscribers to #CancelNetflix.

At the heart of the backlash is the idea that “Cuties” is dangerously and irresponsibly sexualizing pre-teen girls, which, ironically, is what the movie itself is criticizing too. The campaign against the film, which includes calls for the Department of Justice to investigate it and hundreds of thousands calling for subscribers to cancel their Netflix accounts, is riddled with inaccuracies due in part to the fact that some critics have not seen the film (one claims that there is child nudity when there is not).

Netflix said in a statement that it is a, “social commentary against the sexualization of young children.”

Written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, “Cuties” is about an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant named Amy ( Fathia Youssouf) who is living in an impoverished Paris suburb with her observant Muslim family. She becomes fascinated with a clique of rebellious girls at her middle school who choreograph dance routines and wear crop tops and heels. They talk about Kim Kardashian and diets, practice “twerking” and giggle about boys and sex-related things that they don’t yet understand.

Netflix acquired “Cuties” out of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it was favorably reviewed and won an award for its direction. It is the kind of film (foreign-language and with no stars from a first-time director) that would otherwise have gone under the radar. But because Netflix’s promotional materials caught the attention of the internet and even led to an apology from the streaming giant and the removal of the posters, “Cuties” was thrust onto the national stage.

Late last week, Republicans Cruz and US Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas called on the Department of Justice to investigate the film’s production and distribution. Cruz in his letter to Attorney General William Barr asked that they, “determine whether Netflix, its executives, or the individuals involved in the filming and production of ‘Cuties’ violated any federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.” (AP)