Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Do you love seeing Annette Bening being the powerhouse actor that she is? What about former child star Elle Fanning coming into her own as a fully-grown woman dealing with the male gaze? Or Greta Gerwig being extremely Greta Gerwig, but in the best way? How about ladies being complex, nuanced, and flawed on screen? The answer to all of these questions is, obviously, yes. And that’s good news, because the perfect film for you, 20th Century Women, is now streaming on Netflix.
When it came out in 2016, 20th Century Women didn’t make a splash so much as a ripple. It was the fourth feature-length film from writer-director Mike Mills, whose 2010 film Beginners earned Christopher Plummer his first-ever Oscar. It was also a notable lead role for Bening, a bonafide legend that everyone has agreed is fantastic for over 20 years, but has, for the most part, been cast in supporting roles. Critics liked but didn’t love it (it currently holds an 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and it got two nods from the Golden Globes (for Best Picture and Best Actress) and one tiny Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. (And no, I’m not over that Annette Bening Oscar snub, thanks for asking. I love Natalie Portman but Jackie was not her best work! And did Meryl Streep really need another Oscar nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins?)
And that was that. No one handed 20th Century Women any major awards, and every normal person moved on with their lives. Well, NOT! ME! I maintain that this film deserved so much more, from critics and the Academy alike. Now that it’s streaming on Netflix you better believe I will be screaming about it once more. This movie will be buzzed about, complete with think pieces and the subsequent Twitter backlash, if it’s the last thing I do.
For those who don’t know, 20th Century Women is loosely based on Mills’s experience growing up with his own mother in California in the ’70s. The film is narrated by 15-year-old Jamie (played convincingly by newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann, who you can also now catch in Netflix’s Anne with an E), who lives in a boarding house run by his mother Dorothea (Bening). Dorothea, as Jamie frequently notes, grew up in the Depression-era, and is, therefore, a strong-willed woman torn between letting her son have complete freedom and cracking down on him when he gets himself into trouble. It’s hard to define her with adjectives, really, because Bening makes her so fully complex; yet consistently so.
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Other tenants of their home include a woman being tested for cervical cancer (played by a toned-down Gerwig), a gruff carpenter (Billy Crudup), and Jamie’s best friend and reluctant lover, Julie (Fanning). Together they form an odd little family, not bound by the rules of blood relations (by which I mean, they have sex with each other). Mills invites the audience into their home, and you feel that these misfits, however messy their lives may be, would accept you with open arms. An ethereal, synthesized score from composer Roger Neill adds a dream-like nostalgia to the entire thing, and you’ll find yourself longing to return to a world that was never actually yours.
So what are you waiting for? Stream 20th Century Women on Netflix and then join about yelling about it on Twitter. It’s never too late to shame the Academy for snubbing Annette Bening!
