During the pandemic, I noted the charms of Saint Frances, starring and written by Kelly O’Sullivan, directed by Alex Thompson, and released on streaming because all the theaters were closed. O’Sullivan and Thompson are still together, both professionally and personally, and they now have a new movie starting this weekend at the AMC theaters in Grapevine Mills and the Parks in Arlington.
I feel obligated to write about Mouse, and not just because their work is showing in multiplexes where Covid deprived them of the earlier chance. It’s because this teen film might easily be overlooked during its theatrical run, and even more easily could get lost in some streaming service’s catalog. The recognizable talent in the cast is counterweighed by the film’s small scale, low budget, and a premise that doesn’t have an obvious hook. I think it’s important that, even as only the big films seem able to get ticket-buyers to the theater, we don’t lose movies like this one, especially since this one is better than anything else opening this week.
Katherine Mallen Kupferer stars as Minnie, who has just finished her junior year of high school in North Little Rock in 2002. An A student, she nevertheless lives in the shadow of her extroverted best friend Callie (Chloe Coleman), the lead actress in every school play who sings loudly to Michelle Branch in her car and wants to star in Broadway musicals. That all ends on the first day of summer vacation, when Minnie heads home from her temp job and finds that Callie has died in a car accident. When school starts up again in the fall, Minnie — whose mean classmates have nicknamed her “Minnie Mouse” for her timid nature — signs up to sing in the talent show, which is now dedicated to Callie’s memory.
The Arkansas setting matters less than the time period, before social media changed the way people grieve such a calamity. Just as Saint Frances was based on O’Sullivan’s real-life experience having an abortion, this movie is inspired by her best friend who was killed when they were teens. The film is packed with eagle-eyed observations about how Minnie and the people around her cope with the sudden loss: Callie’s boyfriend (Beck Nolan) admits to having sex with another girl after her funeral and then starts weeping. Minnie starts confiding in the local video-store clerk (Iman Vellani from TV’s Ms. Marvel) who lost her own mother in a road accident, and whom Minnie is attracted to, because she might be gay on top of everything else.
Even more than her, Minnie starts spending time with Callie’s mother Helen (Sophie Okonedo), whose marriage comes apart after the death of the couple’s only child. It doesn’t escape Minnie’s notice that Helen’s house is much bigger than her own, and because Helen was her daughter’s vocal coach, Minnie starts practicing with her on her talent-show song. (It’s “One” from A Chorus Line, which proves to be a disastrous pick.) Their relationship is such that the school drama teacher (David Hyde Pierce) has to warn Minnie that trying to replace Callie won’t lead anywhere good.
The cast is more seasoned than you might think. Kupferer played one of Margaret’s friends in Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, and she’s the daughter of Tara Mallen, who runs a Chicago theater company in real life and appears here as Minnie’s coarse mother who’s more decent than her daughter appreciates. Coleman starred in My Spy and had a regular role on TV’s Big Little Lies. It’s a tribute to the young leads that they don’t look outclassed by their feted co-stars, and that they give Mouse such a core of strength to this story about carrying on quietly after one of life’s big blows.
Mouse
Starring Katherine Mallen Kupferer and Sophie Okonedo. Directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson. Written by Kelly O’Sullivan. Rated R.
