Clementine

Clementine is a character study lead by dialogue and moody cinematography. It could not be classed as exciting. That’s cool, that’s a vibe. But in the third act, things actually happen. And I think perhaps that was a mistake.

The film begins with Karen struggling with a recent breakup with older partner, D. Coping poorly, Karen breaks into her ex’s lake house. But Karen doesn’t have the chance to reflect in solitude. A girl named Lana appears, asking to help Karen look for her dog. Despite Lana being young and untrustworthy, Karen agrees. She and Lana then begin spending time together. Lana has dreams of being an actress and a flirtatious air which Karen only encourages. Whatever is developing between them is only slightly hindered by Beau. Beau knows Karen’s ex, D and that Karen herself doesn’t own this lake house. But he’s a minor plot in whatever the hell is going on between Karen and Lana.

The main thing going on between Karen and Lana is projection. Lana is an intriguing mystery. Karen doesn’t know much about her. But Karen is more than willing to fill in the gaps in that information with her own story. Is the problem that Lana is lying and untrustworthy? Or is Karen, herself lying and untrustworthy just projecting onto her? (It’s both.) Karen is still young and her ex was older. Lana gives her the chance to be the “older woman” in this dynamic. And straightaway, Karen is willing to play that role. This exploration of projection is Clementine at its strongest. It’s unpleasant but realistic to see Karen work through her problems with identity and romance using this young stranger. It’s a great depiction about how negative behaviour perpetuates. Much of how Karen treats Lana is likely how she was treated by D. And thus, the cycle continues again.

Then, the third act gets some actual plot points. Clementine escalates quickly. There’s a gun in play. One moment, Karen and Lana are smoking pot and Lana tells Karen about a sleazy modelling “audition” she attended. Then, bam! Karen’s got a gun and a mind for vengeance. I’m usually not a fan of slower movies. I like plot and I like action. But I actually preferred the first two acts of Clementine. It was a good, subtle portrait of a breakup. I didn’t need this third act “something interesting has to happen” vibe. D also shows up in the third act. She is admittedly, very interesting. We don’t learn much about her, but she has the vibe of working for a secret government agency or something. So that’s pretty neat.

While slow and subtle until the third act, Clementine holds itself together with beautiful visuals. The film has some really good cinematography and mood. Often, there is a vibe of a near-thriller. There’s tension, quick disorienting cuts and a well-timed close up. There’s also an air of sensuality. The film is always willing to stop and slow down when Lana gets a little flirty. Here too, the attention to detail and choice of close ups really help set the mood.

The standout of the film is Sydney Sweeney’s performance as Lana. Sweeney takes this small, quiet indie film and uses it as her own personal acting reel. She’s giving it her all here. Clementine would certainly be a much weaker movie with a less dynamic actress. But Sweeney does it all. She is engaging, seductive, untrustworthy and naive. And it feels effortless for her. This is definitely an early performance from an actor clearly destined for bigger things.

Clementine can’t decide if it wants to be a mood piece where nothing happens or whatever the hell they did in the third act. As a portrait of a breakup and projection, it packs a quiet punch. But when the film leaves the near-universal relatability of those themes for something a little more plot driven, it loses its way. The third act comes too rapidly and is an unwelcome shift in tone. Though admittedly even before then, I’m not sure quiet enough happened in Clementine for me to ever truly love it.

Overall rating: 5.7/10

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