Wendy and Lucy
By Kit Macdonald
This 2008 treasure by Filmoteca favourite Kelly Reichardt (she of River of Grass, First Cow and, most recently, The Mastermind) stars Michelle Williams in what remains one of her finest performances, in a career stacked full of them. The film follows Wendy, a young woman travelling to Alaska in search of work with her beloved dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon and Lucy goes missing, a series of small setbacks snowballs into a crisis that exposes the fragility of life on the economic margins.
Reichardt's characteristic restrained direction avoids melodrama, and she finds profound emotional weight in everyday struggles. Shot with documentary-like simplicity, the film captures the anxieties of recession-era America through empty streets, undramatic encounters and moments of quiet uncertainty. Williams anchors every scene with remarkable subtlety, conveying resilience, loneliness and exhaustion in equal measure. At just over 80 minutes, it's as concise as it is deeply affecting.