Little Sister
Directed by Zach Clark
Starring Addison Timlin, Ally Sheedy, Keith Poulson, Peter Hedges and Kristin Slaysman
October, 2008. Young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.” On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. Little Sister is a sad comedy about family – a schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all.
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Reviews
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★★★★ review by davidehrlich on Letterboxd
So many low-budget American indies are about stunted twentysomethings who return to their childhood homes in order to achieve some great personal catharsis, but so few of them understand what home really means, or know how to find it. It’s been more than a decade since “Garden State” enshrined that template for a new generation of filmmakers, yet Zach Clark’s weird, winsome, and wonderful “Little Sister” is one of the few movies that has used it to tell a story that feels indivisibly true to itself.
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★★★½ review by brat pitt on Letterboxd
kinda made me miss my emo phase so that's not good
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★★★★ review by Leticia Fernandes on Letterboxd
I love falling in love with a film
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★★★½ review by Emily Housel on Letterboxd
punk nuns forever 🤘🙏
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★★★★ review by Milez Das on Letterboxd
Colleen is called back from her nun duty by her mom since her brother is back. As we take this journey with Colleen, we see her relationship with her mother, why she decided to become a nun, her bond with her brother. The little things she likes, the smile she has that makes everything okay and the goth, metal and past phase of it.
We see Colleen looking back at the videos made with her brother. The nostalgia she goes through. The beauty of the movie comes through when she tries to cheer her brother up. Going back to the goth phase of her life, coloring her pink, putting on black lipstick, make up. Then dancing on tunes. Taking a walk, talking about her experiences as nun.
There is a strain in her relationship with her mother. Even though they both love each other very much, the suicide attempt by her mother has taken a toll on Colleen. Then, her parents taking doing weed. Colleen just wanted a structure to her life.
You can see how her mother tries to make the last moments with Colleen before she leaves to take her vows. Everything here is beautifully, dark and everyone just trying their best to do with whatever they can.
Addison Timlin is just an revelation here. I have seen her in many roles previously like in Californication or That Awkward Moment. But here as Colleen she just surprises you in every way possible. She is funny, cute and that smile is to die for.
Little Sister is about love, structure, nostalgia and just trying the best we could.
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