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Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The Nowhere Inn finds Annie Clark, A.K.A. post-modern guitar shredding pop star St. Vincent, and Carrie Brownstein of Portlandia and Sleater-Kinney fame moving their collaborative efforts from music to film. Originally premiering in January 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival, the film is now available on Hulu, as well as for rent or purchase on Apple TV and other streaming services. Written by Clark and Brownstein and directed by first-time filmmaker Bill Benz, the faux tour documentary examines art, identity and fame and also includes the occasional live St. Vincent performance.
THE NOWHERE INN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A white stretch limousine races down a desert highway. In the back seat sits Annie Clark. The limo driver says he doesn’t know who she is. “That’s OK,” Clark replies politely, “I’m not for everybody.” He interrupts her a moment later, saying, “Hey, I called my boy. He’s in a band. He says he’s never heard of you either.”
The Gist: Annie Clark is St. Vincent and St. Vincent is Annie Clark … but then again, is she? What begins as a tour doc becomes an existential examination of art, the artist, creative control and even reality. Bugged out right? The Nowhere Inn’s promotional materials refer to it as a “metafictional feature” and while it’s entirely scripted, there are multiple truths running through its fake narrative.
After a David Lynch-ian intro, Clark stares into the camera like a criminal being interrogated. “Why was the movie never completed?,” she says. “All I can say is somewhere along the way things went terribly wrong.” Things start simple enough; Clark asks “best friend” Brownstein to direct a tour documentary that will “strip away the layers” and show who she really is.
As the tour and film progress, however, both filmmaker and subject are disappointed at the disconnect between St. Vincent, sexy latex wearing alt-rocker, and Clark, the thoughtful artiste who eschews backstage debauchery for fresh vegetables and games of Scrabble. Brownstein asks Annie to be more like her stage persona, to be “more interesting,” and in doing so, unleashes a monster.
As Clark dons sunglasses, starts smoking and indulges in sex tapes and primadonna behavior, Brownstein loses control of the film, her friend and her sense of reality. The band tour bus becomes a dance club where everyone wears angular St. Vincent wigs. “We’re in this together,” Clark tells Brownstein. “Are we?,” she asks in return. “Um hmm,” Clark purrs, “Me and me.”
Fantasy and reality intersect in beguiling ways. Clark stages a fake family reunion in Texas. “This is who I am,” she says. Later, Brownstein blindfolds her and brings her to the prison where her father is incarcerated in order to provoke a real reaction. Clark did, in fact, grow up in Texas and her father did time for fraud. “That’s why I make music, to get away from this,” she cries to Brownstein, gesturing to the prison. “But you can’t make the whole thing up and expect people to buy into it,” says Brownstein, echoing endless artistic debates over artifice and authenticity. “Well then I want to make another kind of film,” is Clark’s response. Indeed, she has.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Nowhere Inn draws inspiration from past mockumentaries, rock docs, and indie cinema. This Is Spinal Tap is certainly a touchstone while an ongoing bit about writing a song mid-tour about the tour recalls 1982’s Another State of Mind, an actual tour documentary about two hapless punk bands crisscrossing America. Clark’s inner battle with her St. Vincent stage persona echoes Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan and the premise of a movie about making a movie has many precedents but in this case most closely resembles 1995’s Living in Oblivion, featuring a young Steve Buscemi. Of course, it also shares the comedic DNA of Portlandia, with jokes that get exponentially funnier every time you think about them.
Performance Worth Watching: Annie Clark is perfect in portraying, well, herself. Seriously, though, her comedic timing and tone is impeccable and though her performance is intentionally mannered, she’s a natural on camera and effortlessly shifts between the different manifestations of her person and persona. She should act more.
Memorable Dialogue: After Dakota Johnson, as herself and Clark’s girlfriend, unexpectedly breaks up with Clark on camera:
Clark: “From now on I need more say in how other people are going to act.”
Brownstein: “It’s a documentary.”
Clark: “OK. Well then, let’s only document things I can control.”
Sex and Skin: Is a sex scene between Clark and Johnson hot enough for you? Well, it’s not really, it’s played for laughs and we don’t see much though both women look great in lingerie.
Our Take: Like David Bowie, Madonna and Prince before her, St. Vincent’s artistic arc has been one of constant reinvention. And like them, she has now successfully bridged the precarious gap between music and film. Her music is at once challenging and accessible and so too is The Nowhere Inn, packing big ideas into a comedic-thriller but never disappearing up its own ass.
Interestingly, in creating a fictitious story about St. Vincent, the artist, Brownstein and Clark have created a work that reveals as much about the human underneath. When Brownstein says near the end of the film, “I don’t know who you are anymore,” Clark responds, “I know who I am. What does it matter if anyone else does?” Highfalutin notions of identity aside, the film ultimately succeeds because it is well written, well acted and visually arresting.
Our Call: STREAM IT. The Nowhere Inn’s charms are many and will appeal to both St. Vincent and Portlandia fans. Where so many films aspire to simply entertain us, Clark and Brownstein have created something that provokes thought as well as laughter.
Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.
