Hetty (Lynda Steadman) and her husband Ralph (Stephen McGann) have just experienced one of the worst tragedies that any couple can, and their life together is in shambles. When Hetty decides to go off on her own one day she meets a young man named Martin (Lee Oakes), and her day takes a quick turn. Writer-Director Andrea Arnold looks at the seemingly unimportant decisions that we make on a daily basis. Milk examines the consequences to those actions and how they can snowball into something bigger.
While there is one major dramatic aspect present in the narrative of Milk, the majority of the film focuses on seemingly mundane decisions that people make on a day-to-day basis. Choosing whether or not to attend an appointment, talking to a stranger in the park, or making eggs–unimportant, but they all manage to play a role in Hetty’s journey. Why do I care about the humdrum decisions of a housewife? Why do I care that she sits in a park and makes conversation with a stranger? Well, it’s not so much about the specific decisions, but rather the fact that every choice we make has consequences. Milk begs us to look at the things we choose to do each and every day and to understand that every action has a reaction. Again, Milk has a dark driving force behind it, and it’s an exaggerated example of what can happen if we don’t think before we act, but it rings true for each and every one of us.
Milk is a low-budget film that doesn’t rely on frills to express its message and wow its viewers. Rather the film relies heavily on the simplicity of life, the reality of what we see each and every day. Focusing on visuals and sounds that viewers are familiar with allows those viewers to understand and appreciate Milk’s message, and it allows the film to be successful as a result. As the story plays out, and viewers catch glimpses of their own lives on screen it invites them into the film, making them one with Hetty’s journey, and causing them to appreciate the film even more. Arnold’s decision to focus on the familiar plays a pivotal role in the overall reception of Milk, and this decision might ultimately be the reason that the film is so enjoyable.
In the grand scheme of Milk, the acting feels average (nowhere near bad, but also not quite good enough to really impress viewers). However, there are three or four moments throughout the course of Milk when viewers see the grand abilities of the actors on screen shine through. As Ralph and Hetty discuss whether or not Hetty will attend the upcoming function, McGann shows the world that he fully understands what the couple is experiencing at the moment. He’s fully able to convey emotion, and he ropes viewers further into the film. Furthermore, as the film comes to a close, the most important scene of the entire film relies almost entirely on whether or not Steadman is able to express to viewers the intricacies and oddities of this scene. She delivers with great poise, and all that the film had been leading to peaks in this moment.
There’s a beautiful marriage between the simplistic visuals and Arnold’s understanding of humanity and all that we do. Milk is a visual representation of that marriage, a clear expression of what Arnold is attempting to convey to the world. Sure, viewers must ask themselves a series of questions in order to fully understand the gravity of what Arnold says and does, but, like the real world, without asking ourselves these questions we can sometimes remain stagnant, unable to proceed with our lives. I’m in love with the twisted simplicity of Milk, and it’s Arnold that allows everything to come together so brilliantly.
Written & Directed by Andrea Arnold.
Starring Lynda Steadman, Stephen McGann, & Lee Oakes.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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