WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
We’re always advised to “Let it go” or “GO and fix that” when it comes to broken relationships we might find remain in our lives, unresolved, only barely hidden within our minds. Whether we wish to admit it or not, these hurts are also never TRULY forgotten anyway. The hurt represented will haunt us, burrowing deep within, a constant reminder of what we DO want to be free of–but DON’T want to FACE, preferring to “move on” in spite of how we’ve been impacted. Discovering the road back is no easy task, and will we be willing to listen to those closest to us to find peace? Liv (Olivia Levine) has fought alcoholism for a long time, and finally open to attend an AA meeting with her steadfast, supportive, doting but firm partner Marty (Rosaline Elbay), hope might be a possibility. But, when an unexpected visitor arrives during the session, it drastically shakes Liv to her core, forcing her to decide if casting aside her troubles will only be a distant dream–or a newly revealed opportunity to find release?
Next, my Mind:
The concept of getting sober takes on multiple levels of both intensity and meaning through this impactful tale of abandonment, addiction, pain, enduring love, confronting our faults, and discovering light at the end of the tunnel, all thanks to well-executed writing and direction via this indie short film effort from director Erica Rose, writer Olivia Levine, producers Lyman Creason and Nicole Kay Payson, plus executive producers Sarah Herrman and Hannah D. Kettering. A further overall showcasing of the talents that reside within the ever-expanding and most assuredly deserving female-centric filmmaking community, it also becomes another example for this critic where the underlying LGBTQIA+ current that flows through two of the primary characters and several satellite ones doesn’t remotely overtake the film’s ultimate intent, rising well above this relational orientation, honestly taking a totally “in-the-background” position, instead highlighting the grander, deeper thematic explorations that the story strives for. I say “BRAVO!!”
Having an exclusive World Premiere, one-off in-person screening June 11th at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival before streaming online June 19th-July 2nd through the Festival site, the narrative finds its focus centered on a headstrong young woman encountering the hard realities of her alcoholism who, after finally giving in to her partner’s request to seek help, finds herself once more at odds with the past and her very identity when the AA meeting she attends goes awry thanks to a unforeseen attendee. It’s a candid, emotionally volatile, effectively conveyed journey into the heart of apprehensions, self-doubts, resistance to change, and having to determine if reconciliation is more potent than forever holding onto regrets and inner wounds. Also, the story addresses that when we ourselves are finding conflict with something in our lives, we tend to try and deflect having to contend with it by attempting to “analyze” others and what we perceive are THEIR hang-ups–until we hear their actual accounts and watch it transform our opinion while admitting to our own needs.
Dealing with the thought of someone “playing the victim”, listening to what we might interpret as false gratefulness, the hypocrisy being communicated when we feel one person’s understanding of a circumstance is in sharp contrast to our own recollections, and learning that our failures may have actually had a POSITIVE impact on someone else’s road to recovery are all added themes that get screen time here, and it does remind us just how damaging unforgiveness and things spoken in an angry, hazy state of mind can be, festering inside until something brings it all back to the surface and we then have that aforementioned choice to take ownership of it or ignore it and try to keep moving on. Given the narrative direction this film takes, it did make the finale delivered a touch predictable, BUT, that doesn’t at all remove the beauty of what it illustrates and the importance of decisions made to pursue solace of soul and restoration of relationship.
Levine steps outside of her writer persona to make her presence known in another creative way–acting–and does so with a magnitude of fiery, impassioned energy that exudes steadfast, borderline cantankerous, opinionated vigor but then shifts to fully believable, achingly heartbreaking vulnerability and brokenness through her title role as Liv, a woman in the midst of battling the dependency issues with alcohol that her loving partner Marty has finally convinced her to do something about via attending a local AA meeting. Still skeptical about the step she’s making, Liv’s initial time with the group starts to win her over until a late arrival to the gathering sets Liv’s reality off kilter as a flood of memories to be forgotten come rushing back with a vengeance that will severely test Liv’s desire to make things right for her own sake and that of those closest to her. It’s a raw series of moments, both intense and subtle, that occur over the course of this film, and Levine just nails the simmering explosiveness of it all with excellent skill.
Primary supporting roles arrive first from Elbay as Marty, Liv’s life partner who has been the main voice of reason in trying to get Liv into AA and put the ghosts of the past behind her, even as she herself has cause to wish this from not just the fact of their involvement together, but that it speaks to her own personal journey, too. A stalwart, unwavering, but wholly loving partner to Liv, Marty’s presence begins the process of what need to be done, and Elbay’s quietly formidable performance is finely executed by the actress. Then we have incomparable Christine Taylor who definitively makes her screen time here worthwhile through delivering a understatedly provocative performance as Judy, the singular catalyst for everything to initially take a turn for the unpredictable and uncomfortable but could also herald an entire change within Liv that will redefine them both. Taylor just has a way of embodying this character to that point of you love to hate her but then leaves room for potential redemption, a veteran talent shining bright.
The additional supporting turns arrive from Monica Wyche as the AA meeting leader Jean whose calm composure and control of those attending this particular evening gets upended quite emphatically, Jordan Carlos, Sarah Herrman, and Abdu Garmazi as fellow meeting attendees Alvin, Shelby, and Seth, all of whose stories of their addiction actually break through to Liv more than she would have anticipated. So, in total, “Let Liv” may in itself not completely cover new ground subject-wise, but it successfully ascends on wings of an effective story that turns into an irrefutable illustration of the quest to heal what has been torn asunder within ourselves and others, endeavoring to bury long-gestating animosity, conquer that which seeks to control us negatively, and rediscovering the bonds of love from multiple sources that will become the binding agents in our choosing to move ahead.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
