By George Bate
We all see movies, but to be seen by a movie can be a cathartic experience. Watching a film that reflects aspects of your life, background, or personality that are seldom explored in media helps normalize our most difficult experiences and attributes and shows that, while there’s certainly a time and place for more heightened and over-the-top genre stories, nothing quite compares to a recognizable slice-of-life story. That’s exactly what writer, director, and star Ellie Sachs delivers with her feature directorial debut Lucy Schulman.
Making its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival, Lucy Schulman stars Ellie Sachs as the titular character, a young woman living in New York City recovering from a recent breakup. As she moves back in with her loving dad (David Cross), Lucy navigates bad dates, her aspirations to become a book editor, spending time with her best friends, and a new man (Thomas Mann) she becomes entranced by.
Tribeca alum Ellie Sachs returns to the festival where she premiered her excellent short film Proof of Concept a few years prior to debut an endearing, accessible, and humorous coming-of-age-story about a woman who’s technically past the coming-of-age period. Lucy Schulman shares the DNA of Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha and Noah Baumbach’s New York indies about quarter-life transitions. The film doesn’t have much of a traditional plot, rather unfolding as a chronicle of a messy and confused young woman trying her best to balance a myriad of conflicting priorities.
Sachs’ film drops its audience into Lucy’s life and never leaves her side until the credits roll. Everything unravels from Lucy’s perspective, which, even when she makes questionable decisions or gets her priorities woefully wrong, ensures that we never lose empathy for her or investment in her journey. Much of this has to do with Sachs herself, who cultivates a charming, likable, and deeply flawed protagonist to simultaneously root for and become frustrated by.
At its heart, Lucy Schulman is a tale of a young woman figuring out who she is independent of the relationships that have defined her entire life. After a messy breakup that leaves her devastated, Lucy jumps head first back into the dating scene, much to the disapproval of her friends who lament her ‘boy crazy’ lifestyle.
Lucy’s overreliance on relationships, rather than individuality, continues to surface as her lovely father exhibits unconditional love and support for her. He takes her in without a question asked, consoles her with Chinese food, invites her to watch Twilight Zone marathons with friends, and genuinely listens to her concerns. But for as seemingly perfect as her father is, their relationship teeters on codependency and unintentionally stunts Lucy’s development into a fully functioning, independent woman.
This stunted development continues as Lucy falls head over heels for James (Thomas Mann), a young artist who she accompanies on a night-long, spur-of-the-moment date across the streets of New York City. Very quickly, Lucy’s work, friends, and obligations fall by the wayside as she dedicates all of her time to her new boyfriend.
A point of novelty for Lucy Schulman is found as Sachs exercises restraint in her characterization of the key male figures in Lucy’s life. Her dad, played with effortless charm and warmth by David Cross, is far from the monstrous parent featured in many similar dramedies. The same can be said for James, a decent guy who listens, respects, and cares for Lucy. Sachs doesn’t take the easy route in overpopulating her film with toxic masculine figures who make for easy antagonists. Rather, she centers the film firmly and exclusively around its titular character and, in doing so, creates a more recognizable and accessible coming-of-age story.
Lucy Schulman may not always evoke audible laughs with its humor and doesn’t exactly land its ending, but, overwhelmingly, the film offers a refreshing take on young adulthood and identity formation within the confines of an endearing and distinctly New York dramedy.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
Making its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival, Lucy Schulman finds writer, director, and star Ellie Sachs craft a relatable, endearing, charming, and distinctly New York dramedy and coming-of-age story. The film unfolds without a traditional, rigid plot structure, instead dropping audiences into the life of a protagonist we can’t help but unwaveringly root for and occasionally be frustrated by. Over the course of an accessible film that taps into the DNA of Noam Baumbach’s New York indies, Lucy slowly figures out who she is independent of the relationships she repeatedly throws herself into and has difficulty disentangling from. Sachs is just as impressive in front of the camera as she is beyond, delivering a performance delicately attuned to tone and charming enough to never lose investment in her journey, despite the poor decisions she makes along the way. Sachs’ film arrives on a point of novelty by avoiding the tendency of many similar dramedies to position toxic masculine figures as easy antagonists. Instead, Lucy Schulman features rather wholesome male figures, in particular a warm father played by David Cross, and, in doing so, serves as a more recognizable and grounded coming-of-age story. While not always laugh out loud funny and somewhat misfiring with its ending, Lucy Schulman offers a refreshing take on young adulthood and identity formation and affirms Ellie Sachs as a compelling emerging filmmaker to look out for.