Saint Frances

By: Sam Frost

Don’t we all need some realness sometimes? Saint Frances is a giant dose. There’s no shying away from anything, no matter how hard or potent. From relationships, to parenting, to the intricacies of both physical and mental health this film takes a deep dive into all the troubles and awkwardness of everyday life and it resonates in a truly personal way.

It starts with Bridget, who is played by the film’s writer, Kelly O’Sullivan. She meets Jace (Max Lipchitz) at a party. We then cut to the next morning. Bridget’s in the bathroom and finds blood all over her face. She realizes she started her period and goes to find the bedspread: covered. Jace’s face? Also covered. He laughs, isn’t fazed and jumps right into helping her clean up. It’s hard to not instantly be #TeamJace.

We then jump to Bridget remembering she has a job interview. She rushes out the door looking in shambles, a little as though she needs a nanny for herself more than a nannying job. We meet the couple Maya (Charin Alvarez) and Annie (Lily Mojekwu) and as the women chat Bridget is frank about who she is: early thirties, doesn’t have shit figured out. Annie seems skeptical, but Maya is open-minded. Bridget is brought upstairs to meet Frances (Ramona Edith Williams.) Unfortunately, Bridget doesn’t know how to talk to her. The vibe is off. After just a few moments Frances opens the door to tell her mothers that “we’re done here.”

The time jump is a little unclear, but soon Bridget gets a phone call. She stands up and walks right out of her restaurant job and heads to the house. We see Maya looking frazzled. She’s holding her new infant and looks completely drained. Bridget is immediately thrown into taking care of Frances. Going to the park, taking her to music lessons and even putting bandaids on her hands. Her own personal life becomes second, but there’s subtle evidence that Jace is still around and soon there’s a positive pregnancy text.

The film doesn’t spend any time on the pregnancy than what is needed. Bridget knows what her plan is and sits Jace down to say she’s getting an abortion. During the Q&A after the film Lily Mojekwu noted that Bridget makes the decision right away saying, “Then you journey with her through that. And there wasn’t a sense of remorse or guilt afterwards. That wasn’t part of her process.”

O’Sullivan and director Alex Thompson made the choice for bluntness. There are no blurred lines about anything and there’s two specific moments that make this stand out. First, Bridget takes an abortion pill and the film effortlessly embraces the hard moments while also normalizing the situation. Jace reads the instructions out loud and they discuss what’s happening causally and calmly. There’s blood, lots of it, and there’s no hiding it— it just is what it is and life goes on. Thompson made the choice to show shots of Bridget changing pads and holding bloody underwear and never shied away from anything. Second, during a hike Bridget’s mother tells her that when she was a baby and wouldn’t stop screaming that she wanted to slam her against the wall until her head was a bloody pulp (postpartum?). Bridget is shocked, maybe even horrified, but her mother simply says that imagining it kept her from doing it. She says that more women should talk about these kinds of things in an attempt to make them less lonely. These moments create a central message of openness, a message that nothing is off limits. Nothing needs to be hidden.

O’Sullivan seamlessly portrays a young woman that’s learning and growing. Her character isn’t perfect and she makes many questionable decisions, but she’s unabashedly herself and O’Sullivan allows the audience to feel like they’re sitting right next to her, learning from her. Her performance is incredible and truly helps this character shine. She thoroughly shows how to love Frances like her own while also struggling through her own troubles.

By the end of Saint Frances we see the genuine love between not only Bridget and Frances, but everyone involved. This film is about family and friendship and love, but it’s also about so much more. Saint Frances feels like an anthem for discussion, for bodies and for the blood and guts of the human experience. It’s a deep look at life and it would be a shame to miss out on watching this film!