Daddy Issues

By: Taylor Gates

I’ll be completely honest, I had some reservations before seeing Daddy Issues. The trailer showcases the film’s most raunchy and controversial scenes and not much else: age-play, strap-ons and Sugar Daddy Simon (Andrew Pifko) creepily holding a needle. There’s is hardly any dialogue accompanying this, only intense classical music and Jasmine’s (Montana Manning) voice ominously repeating the phrase, “Follow your dreams or they’ll chase you forever.” The promo is somewhat misleading and exploitive, highlighting all the lasciviousness without any of the complex context or characterization—which is a pity because there’s tons of it.

In reality, Daddy Issues is not just another film filled with one-dimensional characters made by and for the male gaze. Instead, Alex Bloom’s script under Amara Cash’s direction makes the film fit in perfectly with the canon of high-caliber of dark comedies aimed towards young women that have swept the indie scene within the last few months. Think Flower and Ingrid Goes West mixed with a dash of Thoroughbreds.

Maya (Madison Lawlor), a lonely 19-year-old with a penchant for bold makeup and even bolder hair, has two things that keep her going: the dream of going to art school in Florence and Instagram-stalking Jasmine, a clothing designer who she believes to be the perfect woman.

After a particularly bad argument with her cold, unsupportive mother (Kamala Jones) and stepfather (Seth Cassell), Maya decides to go to the bar Jasmine tagged on Instagram to finally meet the girl she’s been obsessively following for two years. They connect right away, beginning both a whirlwind relationship and business partnership, integrating Maya’s drawings into Jasmine’s clothing.

Manning and Lawlor have a palpable amount of chemistry and the two are irresistible as the epitome of “opposites attract.” There’s a particularly cute comedic scene towards the beginning of the movie when, after some drugs and drinking, there’s a misunderstanding with a car analogy and the two flirtatiously tease each other. Manning and Lawlor do a brilliant job walking the line between being in-tune physically and on the surface but in completely different worlds psychologically and emotionally—a recipe for disaster and heartbreak later down the road.

In addition to her flourishing career and romance, Maya reconnects with her father, who reveals he has been sending her letters and cards relentlessly since he left of which Maya had no knowledge. The two begin to spend more time together as well.

However, Maya’s newfound joyful life begins to crumble when she finds out Jasmine not only has a Sugar Daddy, but she has a Sugar Daddy she actually loves and cares about, sending Maya into a jealous spiral. There is a sense of dramatic irony here in that the audience knows that Maya’s biological doctor father and Jasmine’s neurotic, drug-addicted Sugar Daddy are the same person. Because of this, there’s a sense of dread underlying every scene until the big explosion. The whole movie is a tinderbox just waiting for the spark of the big reveal.

The fact that Simon finds out about the dilemma first heightens and prolongs this sense of tension, setting the film up for an epic third act. And while it accomplishes this, it also gives Simon a surprising amount of depth and authenticity in the process. Pifko does a masterful job making a character that could have easily been cartoonish and repulsive sympathetic as he genuinely does struggle to do the right thing…or at least what he logically thinks is the right thing under the outlandish circumstances.

In a weird way, Daddy Issues is just as much about parental relationships as it is about romantic love. When Jasmine’s eccentric and doting but manic mother (Jodi Carol Harrison) and her boyfriend Chuck (Ronnie Clark) announce that the three of them are going to go to Vegas, Jasmine sends Maya and Chuck out of the room to tearfully beg her mother to go back on her medication. In turn, Jasmine’s mother starts crying as well, heartbroken that Jasmine doesn’t want to go on adventures with her anymore. The scene is emotional and heartbreakingly beautifully acted by both Manning and Harrison. Because Maya didn’t see the ugliness, she naively tells Jasmine that it must be wonderful to have a mother as supportive and caring as her own. What goes on beyond closed doors, the film is saying, might not always be a good indication of what occurs behind them.

Maya has her own tumultuous relationships with her bitter mother admitting that she resents her plans being ruined because she got pregnant with Maya. Her small moment of redemption comes when she tells Maya her father was degrading towards her into weird things she couldn’t possibly handle. Still, it’s Simon that comes off as the best parent in a twisted way. He admits to Maya that he’s a messed up person, eventually paying for her to go to Florence and escape the wreckage that he and her mother have made of her life.

The plot of Daddy Issues is compelling, as is the look of the movie. Every makeup choice, prop and costume are deliberate. Pastels, particularly pinks and blues, dominate the landscape making it look like someone slipped a candy-coated filter over the world. The editing, too, is untraditional. Scenes with Maya scrolling through her phone are sped up; parts where Jasmine is dancing seductively are slowed-down and rewound. The whole thing is whimsical, a contrast to the disturbing love triangle at the movie’s core.

The bottom line is don’t be fooled by the trailer for this movie. As Amara Cash said while introducing the film, “it’s an escape—one you have to have an open mind to enjoy.” Watch out for the trifecta of up-and-comers Lawlor, Manning and Pifko. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of them very soon.