Electrick Children
Starring: Julia Garner, Rory Culkin, Liam Aiken, Billy Zane
Director: Rebecca Thomas
Rating: 3/5
Rebecca Thomas takes the director's chair for her feature length debut this week as she delivers Electrick Children.
And this movie is one of the best coming of age dramas that I have seen in quite a while as this is a sweet and rather heart-warming movie.
Pregnant by music? On her 15th birthday, Rachel, a young Mormon girl from a fundamentalist Utah community, discovers a forbidden cassette tape with rock music on it.
Having never heard anything like it, she has a miraculous experience and three months later, claims to have had an immaculate conception from listening to the music.
Her parents arrange a marriage, but Rachel runs away to the closest city, Las Vegas, to search for the man who sings on the tape, thinking he has something to do with her mysterious pregnancy...
Thomas comes from a Mormon background and while her upbringing was never as strict as depicted in the movie she comes from a place of understanding.
This is not a film that ridicules or questions their faith it is merely inspired by her own experiences personally and during her documentary work.
Julia Garner takes on the central role of Rachel and she plays this with such innocence it really is a great performance.
But there is a strength and fearlessness in her that drives her forward to discover answers about her pregnancy - and this works really well because the innocent aspect of her character really could have been overplayed.
The fish out of water element when Rachel gets to Las Vegas does allow from some light and funny moments as she begins to live a life outside of her Mormon upbringing.
There is also a great turn from Rory Culkin who is accepting of Rachel and her stepbrother Mr Will.
A charming relationship between Rachel and Clyde develops as he takes her under his wing in a bid to help her find her answers.
Electrick Children is a touching movie that has a fresh and innocent feel to it from start to finish.
Put on top on that some fantastic cinematography; Thomas really have caught the city and the desert in the most amazing light, and you have a charming movie.
Electrick Children is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Julia Garner