Review: Always Shine

Sophia Takal's sophomore effort, Always Shine, is unapologetic about its influences of which there are many. One can note explicit references to Persona, Single White Female, Mulholland Drive, Queen of Earth, The Neon Demon, and Brian De Palma's Passion. In fact, a great deal of the film feels like a De Palma minus the exploitative luridness. If Takal makes her touchstones all too evident, it is a deliberate tactic on her part as Always Shine is an often intriguing but ultimately self-defeating deconstruction on the commodifying and cannibalistic nature of Hollywood.

Stars Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin FitzGerald are introduced via direct-to-camera monologues. FitzGerald's Beth is revealed to be auditioning for a role in a slasher film, her weeping interrupted by off-screen male voices repeatedly reminding her that the role requires extensive nudity. "I'll do anything you want," she starts again from the top. Davis' Anna, meanwhile, is arguing with a mechanic over an unauthorized repair, the costs of which she hasn't the money to pay for - the argument turns out to be real and not reel life.

The two actresses are also friends, though they seem to have been estranged for a time. The women have decided to bridge the distance by spending a weekend together in a secluded home located on the cliffs of Big Sur. It's not too long before personal and professional jealousies emerge. Beth has achieved some modicum of success via fairly lucrative advertising gigs and several film roles; Anna is desperate to get her career going before she's deemed too old by the Hollywood powers-that-be. The irony is that Anna has the bolder personality, but it is that very personality that's stalling her career as the industry is more interested in passive personalities like Beth's.

Though Beth is mindful of downplaying her success around Anna, the latter's resentment is exacerbated by slights both perceived and genuine. With dissonant flash cuts, Michael Montes' ominous score, and a camera slate popping up in the middle of the scene, Takal fragments not only the narrative but the identities of the two women. Anna may be tough but is rife with insecurities; Beth may possess humility but is not without ruthlessness; both women are willing to be whatever the industry wants them to be. Anna may rip into Beth for essentially being a whore by appearing nude (again) in a horror film (again) for the tenth time in two years, but she would kill (perhaps literally) to have the opportunities afforded Beth rather than a part in some experimental film.

Davis and FitzGerald are both excellent with the latter's delicately calibrated performance complementing the former's seething intensity. The highlight of the film is a direct nod to Naomi Watts' audition scene in Mulholland Drive as Anna, running lines with Beth, funnels her fury to frightening effect. Takal is a confident filmmaker and certainly Always Shine's self-reflective commentary on sexism and the identity of self in a world that prizes image above all provokes and disturbs. Yet Takal and screenwriter Lawrence Michael Levine may have been too clever for their and the film's own good. The film all but falls apart in the second half when the construct rather than the characters comes to the forefront. Davis keeps the film's final act watchable, but barely.

Always Shine

Directed by: Sophia Takal

Written by: Lawrence Michael Levine

Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Caitlin FitzGerald