TRAIN TIMES // A FILM REVIEW OF "MATERNA"
MATERNA, the new feature that chronicles the alienation and messy lives of four strangers riding the same subway car one evening. One by one, we dive into their lives and what led them into the same train on the same evening. The four women who we follow are Jean (Kate Lyn Sheil), Mona (Jade Eshete, who also co-wrote the film), Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) and Perizad (Abdullina, who also co-wrote the film). The moment that connects them is an incident on the train involving an unstable man (Sturgill Simpson) and with each recap of the women's lives we see more and more of what happened.
All of the stories revolve around a mother-child relationship and the layers of troubles surrounding them. There's Mona, whose mother is a Jehovah's Witness and she's estranged from the church. She's an actress who's series just ended and her mother doesn't miss an opportunity to tell her so. She's at a crossroads and feels stuck, unsure of how to move forward. Jean is working on a virtual reality sex project. She spends her days and nights by herself, with only her mother on the phone telling her how she needs to freeze her eggs before it's too late. We also have Ruth, a well-off Upper West Side Conservative whose son has just gotten in trouble with his fellow classmate over an unknown issue. She calls her brother over to help the situation, but since he's a gay, pro-Black Lives Matters liberal, his worldview is very different than hers. So his help may not be exactly what she hopes for. Finally, there's Perizad, who must deal with the mysterious death of her Uncle and work through it with her mother and grandmother.
Each story has its highs and lows, with some shining brighter than others. For instance, Ruth's storyline with her son, husband and brother is tense and powerful while Jean's storyline is tragically slow and unsatisfying. MATERNA chooses not to wrap up any of the tense filled situations, and oddly starts the film with the most unsatifying and extremely slow paced of them all, Jean's story (if you make it through this one, which some may not, you may find other things to appreciate). The film also features several interesting conversations regarding race, politics and class. Yet by choosing not to solve any issues and keeping them all at a surface level of emotions, it all ends up feeling a bit empty. The cast turns in strong performances all around, notably Jade Eshete, Lindsay Burdge and Rory Culkin. But by the very unsatisfying end, it feels like we've only gone through the motions instead of actually digging as deep as it could, and should have.
GRADE: C+
WRITTEN BY David Gutnik, Assol Abdullina, Jade Eshete DIRECTED BY David Gutnik STARRING Kate Lyn Sheil, Jade Eshete, Lindsay Burdge, Assol Abdullina, Sturgill Simpson, Cassandra Freeman, Rory Culkin. NOW PLAYING IN SELECT THEATRES AND AVAILABLE ON DEMAND.