Julie Johnson

What a lovely little hidden gem Julie Johnson is! Partially because of simply low distribution and partially because of the title having pretty crap SEO (why didn’t this 2001 movie consider the Google-ability of its title?!), it took me a while to track this one down. And it was absolutely worth the time it took to find it. This is a really lovely, bittersweet and empathetic film.

Julie begins the film as a wife and mother of two children. Her suggestions of taking night classes are met with genuine abuse from her husband. Julie takes some classes anyway, bringing her friend, Claire along for moral support. She finds she has quite a knack for computer-based algorithms. A professor takes interest in Julie. He offers to tutor her and suggests she continue to pursue education. To do this, Julie has to make a choice. And she chooses to get rid of her shit husband. Now a single mom, Julie needs to care for her children, study as well as find a job to support them. Her actions also inspire her friend, Claire to follow in Julie’s footsteps and leave her partner. Claire moves in and together, the two begin to run a functioning household and better themselves. And of course, Julie begins to have feelings for Claire.

So, this movie is sort of sapphic Good Will Hunting. Julie’s apparently a prodigy at some high level math stuff. Why not? I love that this film asks the question of why can’t genius be found in the housewife in the baggy grey hoodie? I also love that it shows that both hard work and support are necessary for Julie’s genius to shine. Her tutor, Professor Johnson is a great secondary character in this. He’s kind, supportive and understanding. The scene where he initially thinks Julie is expressing romantic feelings towards him is a standout of the film. It’s awkward, funny and ultimately, he’s incredibly supportive of Julie. He assures her that her feelings for another woman are a lot less strange than she thinks and that what she feels is okay. And crucially, he teaches her various computer skills and provides her with academic opportunities as well.

This film not a love story. That seems to be a negative point for many reviewers on letterboxd. Julie Johnson isn’t bad because it didn’t focus on a happily ever after romance. The romance is secondary to a story about a woman’s personal growth. Tragically, the romance is a causality of said growth. Julie and Claire begin by having so much in common. They also have a strong foundation of friendship and support. But over the film’s run, they grow apart. Julie has bigger, different ambitions for herself and her life than Claire does. And over time, these become insurmountable. There’s such bittersweet tragedy here. There was real love between Claire and Julie. But sometimes growing up, improving and moving on means leaving something behind. And for Julie, that thing is Claire and the version of herself who could be happy in the life that Claire wants for them.

Julie Johnson is an adaption of a play. And that’s something that probably really helps the film. This is a character-focused film with some really excellent dialogue. It’s not the most visually flashy film, instead taking a pretty minimalist approach to its everyday story of a woman improving herself. But it all comes together. This small, personal story is full of empathy, melancholy and meaningful emotional moments. Julie Johnson shines a spotlight and celebrates a person who rarely gets to be a protagonist; the under-educated housewife. Because of the quality of the script, Julie Johnson transcends the mundane into being a really beautiful, moving piece of art.

While I am conceptually fond of the idea of stories about housewives reaching their unrealized potential, I won’t pretend like they can’t be dull. They are inherently, usually very small stories. Within that genre, Julie Johnson ranks near the top for me. This small story really captured some emotion and displayed some real empathy in its execution. Initially, I believed that the plots of Julie educating herself and of her starting a romance with a woman were too busy to contain in one film. But the way Julie Johnson bittersweetly ties these two threads together in a way that shows the ultimate divergence in Julie and Claire’s lives becomes a really excellent thread the film has. I really recommend this film. It’s small, quiet and very human. The art moved me. And what more can you expect from art than that?

Overall rating: 7.8/10

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