Mubi Monday: My First Film (2024)

There are times when I get irritated by films that are described to me as "blending fact and fiction". Sometimes it can be a very good thing, but sometimes you end up wishing that the film-maker had found a way to either present everything in a documentary or a feature film, instead of some strange hybrid. My First Movie is one of those in-between films, but it's one that I really enjoyed watching for the look at the struggles that can work against anyone, but especially a young female, as they try to get a film made.

Odessa Young plays Vita, a young film-maker who is struggling as she attempts to spin the many plates that need to stay moving while she gets her first film made. There are limitations that feel hard to work around, personal problems that affect the work schedule, and even a tragedy that brings things grinding to a halt (perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently).

Directed by Zia Anger, who also wrote the film with Billy Feldman, this feels impressively honest and surprisingly upbeat throughout. The earliest scenes show our lead going through some moments that they respond to with a great mix of indignation and wit, and the main plot about trying to get a first feature made is a potentially depressing experience offset by the youthful energy and optimism of people coming together to make a work of art that will stand as their tentative first steps into the film-making business.

Young is very good in the lead role, equal parts politeness, patience, frustration, and near-meltdown, and the young cast around her are all just as good, whether they are playing central performers, crew members struggling to get the technical side of things right, or people who just seem to be wandering around a bit aimlessly until they can choose to be supportive or unsupportive when things get tough. 

It's interesting to consider the many ways Anger could have approached this material and the choices made to have it end up like this. There's humour, but it's not a comedy. There's pain, but it's not a tragedy. There's plenty of insight, but it's not a "how to" guide (or even a "how not to" guide). There's a confidence here, or perhaps a stubborn refusal to ever go back to the situation we see played out onscreen, and what is shown feels like a number of simple, unvarnished, truths strung together into a friendship bracelet that is best appreciated by those who have been through a similar situation.

I'll be interested to see where Anger goes from here. This feels like a catharsis, and that's a good thing, but it also often leaves people having to find their words again once they have turned to a new blank page. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'd also like to see what Young does next, but there's no wait required there (having seen that she is credited already in a couple of features released just after this). And if the two end up working together on something titled "My Second Film", well, I know I'll end up watching it.

7/10

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