Holler (2020)

In an economically depressed area of Southern Ohio, Jessica Barden has recently been accepted into the college of her choice but most engage in more and more dangerous endeavors in hopes to pay for her future schooling. I was interested in this film because I’ve spent a lot of time in the area where it was set and filmed. That setting is presented well; the film evocatively captures the dark, cold, never-endingness of Midwestern winters. Unfortunately the camera work as a whole was rather distracting, not even bother with annoying shaky cam but graduating to full on swinging back and forth mode. The cast overall worked quite well and felt like believable people from the community, except for the main character. She came off as pouty and privileged instead of tough and resourceful. Though many actors pull it off, I’m not surprised she isn’t American.