Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
An aspiring dancer moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.
Frances Ha is a charming, intimate portrait of a young woman navigating adulthood with infectious energy. Greta Gerwig's performance is genuinely exceptional — physically expressive, funny, and deeply human — elevating what is a fairly modest, episodic plot. The black-and-white cinematography by Sam Levy, styled after the French New Wave with a spontaneous, light-footed quality, is a genuine visual achievement that gives the film a distinctive look. The plot, however, is fairly low-stakes and meandering by design — its episodic structure is endearing but not dramatically compelling. The film has real personality but operates within the mumblecore tradition rather than transcending it; its Novelty is real but not singular. The ending is warm and satisfying without being surprising or resonant beyond the film's modest emotional register.