Carrie Pilby (2016) - Through the Eyes of Selina

Number Rolled: 37

Movie Name/Year: Carrie Pilby (2016)

Tagline: Live your life before it passes you by.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Length: 98 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Production Companies: Braveart Films

Producer: Alison Bossert, Susan Cartsonis, Dean Craig, Brent Emery, Suzanne McNeill Farwell, Kym Gold, Heather Haggarty, Elaine Harris, Susan Johnson, Nanou Matteson, Per Melita, Stefan Mentz, Victoria Moorhouse, Marcel Sassola, Teri Simpson, Lisa Wolofsky, Marlon Young

Director: Susan Johnson

Writer: Kara Holden, Caren Lissner

Actors: Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, Vanessa Bayer, Colin O’Donoghue, Jason Ritter, William Moseley, Desmin Borges, Poorna Jagannathan, Zachary Infante, Andy Bustillos, Mahaley Patel, Joel Michaely, Scott Keiji Takeda, Cornelia Guest

Stunts: Manny Siverio

Blurb from Netflix: A socially awkward 19-year-old genius makes big plans to step out of her shell and make a friend, get a job and -- maybe -- even go on a date.

Selina’s Point of View:

I found this dramedy incredibly endearing.

Who among us can’t relate to a young person still in search of themselves and coming to terms with theirs, and their parent’s, mistakes?

The writers, Kara Holden (Zapped, Meant to Be, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life) and Caren Lissner, managed to make an over-achieving, loner character that wasn’t completely off-putting. That’s a bit of feat. It’s too easy to make cringe-inducing social tendencies the reason for a character’s inverted nature. In fact, most geeks are made that way in films. At least, they were. It’s getting a bit better now that geekdom is taking over the world.

The main character in this, Carrie Pilby – played by Bel Powley (Informer, Wildling, Equals), actually seems to be a loner because she can’t find anyone her intellectual – or ethical – equal. She wants to do the right thing and isn’t impressed by people who are out to hurt others – or just don’t care if others get hurt by their actions.

Even with the ethical aspect, it never feels preachy or obnoxious.

The direction was impressive as well. The story itself was mostly unique, but you could tell where Susan Johnson (Destiny Stalled, Call My Name, Second Coming) was influenced by old films. There were some shots – especially during romantic moments – where you could see hints of the old black and white films; golden-age of Hollywood kind of stuff.

Seeing as this was Johnson’s first full-length feature direction, I can’t wait to see what comes next for her.

I feel like I could definitely watch this film in the future, quite a few times. It’ll likely find a home on my list of favorite films.

Languages

Speech Available: English, European Spanish, French, German, Italian

Subtitles Available: English, European Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 61%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 75%

Metascore - 52/100

Metacritic User Score – 7.7/10

IMDB Score – 6.6/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5

Movie Trailer: