2022 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
Molly (Molly Reisman) is your average, run of the mill, young adult. She has a job, close friends, and is in the process of renting an apartment with said friends. However, one day she receives a traffic citation and her life turns Retrograde. She begins to obsess over the traffic citation and she begins to spiral. Life for Molly is no longer the same as she struggles to move past her driving infraction; what will this all-consuming ticket force Molly to do?
I’m not sure what to make of the messages present throughout Retrograde. I can’t be sure whether the purpose is to express to viewers not to panic and obsess over the small things in life, or if the purpose is to explain that law enforcement has too much power. While I tend to lean more toward the former, it seems that there is a bit of both sprinkled throughout Retrograde. One message I appreciate (obsessing over the little things), the other seems unnecessary–and it feels that it has no place in the narrative.
Tracking back to the former message, Retrograde accurately conveys how people respond to adverse situations. I’ve been in many situations that aren’t necessarily as bad as I made them out to be, and the reality is that I’ve overreacted in certain scenarios. Retrograde aims to pull in its viewers and explain to them that there are often better ways to go about reacting to the hardships of life–and that communication, genuine communication, can play a significant role in relieving stress during trying times.
It’s interesting to see a film led by a character that is so unlikable. Regardless of the fact that Molly is relatable, her character from the beginning of Retrograde is off putting and unlikable. Interestingly, however, Molly isn’t a detriment to the film, she actually breathes life into it, and Reisman does a wonderful job of portraying this character from beginning to end. Molly is incredibly frustrating; her personality, her motives, and even the looks she gives the other characters are antagonistic, yet, she is the protagonist of Retrograde. Why did writer-director Adrian Murray choose to make the lead so confrontational, so unappealing? I think it’s because it makes her more relatable. The reality is that no one is perfect, and when a do-gooder, a person viewed as near-perfect, is seen on screen as the lead of a film they can sometimes appear fictional or unreal. It seems that Murray’s decision to write Molly in the fashion that he did, while it opens her up to scrutiny, allows viewers to appreciate the fact that she’s real, honest, and, in one way or another, like them.
Retrograde often takes place through a series of long shots that capture an entire room or group of people, and considering the fact that Molly is the focus of the film, this, too, seems like an odd choice. But once again, Murray seems to justify his decisions by proving the worth of each of his scenes. As important as Molly is to Retrograde, the others that surround her throughout the film play a pivotal role in the development of her character and the character’s psyche. Seeing the bigger picture, and seeing how everyone plays a role (and even that Molly isn’t quite as important as she may believe) adds dimension to Retrograde and, once again, proves Murray knows exactly what he’s doing.
I was a bit conflicted as I watched the film, because I struggled to like Molly (which I think is the point). As previously mentioned, I questioned many of the decisions made by Murray, but those choices always panned out in a positive fashion. I was ultimately left, at the conclusion of Retrograde, thinking how wonderfully talented not just Murray is as a writer and director, but how strong an actor Reisman is as well as the actors that support her. Retrograde does more than depict an interesting narrative, it depicts cinematic greatness on the part of Murray and his counterparts.
Written & Directed by Adrian Murray.
Starring Molly Reisman, Sofia Banzhaf, Bessie Cheng, Erik Anderson, Anne Archer, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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