![]() ![]() Sure, the film has a number of touching moments and an overall heartwarming message about a mother-daughter relationship that will undoubtedly have viewers feeling less inclined to take their own families for granted. What’s refreshing about I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is that it’s a pandemic film that doesn’t pretend to sugarcoat the crisis or use it for an uplifting moral agenda. And, while this is true for many, the sentiment has the potential to feel cheap and leave a bad taste in one’s mouth due to the greater horrors of the fundamental mismanagement of the global crisis, as well as the unfathomable losses we have suffered. They tell their audience that this deafening pandemic was good for one thing: it brought people together. The day ends up unraveling into a tragic comedy of errors, in which Danny is shorted by clients, gets too high to function, and even gets involved in a knife fight.īesides the strangeness of seeing face masks and Lysol wipes on screen, one thing that is especially unsettling about the new phenomenon of COVID-era films is that they tend to feel the need to be uplifting. Of course, things don’t quite go as planned. I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) looks at a frantic day in the life of Danny as she roller skates around in the sweltering heat of her California town and attempts to scramble the last $200 she needs to secure an apartment by the end of the day. So, she sets up a tent for herself and her young daughter, Wes ( Wesley Moss), to whom she maintains that they are just camping and will return home soon. Kali plays Danny, who has been recently widowed and left homeless. In fact, the directors pooled together their stimulus checks to fund the ten-day shoot that resulted in the feature. By any definition, it is a pandemic film. I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking), the feature directorial debut for both Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina, who also co-wrote the script and produced the film with Roma Kong, is set in the heart of this pandemic. “Quarantine” and “Social Distancing” are terms most people would rather have forgotten about a year from now, and the use of face masks puts an undeniable date on a film that will inevitably make it considerably less watchable when people no longer wear them in everyday life. I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is a beautiful work that has remained on my mind since viewing.When it comes to films set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the general consensus is that audiences aren’t too fond of the idea. There are moments of laugh-out-loud humor (especially the Deon Cole cameo) amidst the hardship. Kali and Molina’s film calls to mind Miranda July’s You and Me and Everyone We Know or an O’Henry short story in certain spots, but it has its own unique creativity and sensibility. The coronavirus is never mentioned, but masks are everywhere and the pandemic adds further limitations to Danny’s options. Its grand jury award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival included a comment that the film was financed “in part by stimulus relief checks,” which reflects a sense of immediacy to this work that I haven’t picked up in other films made during these pandemic times. It’s worth noting that a woman-heavy production crew worked on I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking). The film is thoroughly engaging Kali has us rooting for her character throughout this journey. There’s a sense that things might be easier if she was more open to her limited support network about her situation, but the larger feeling is that Danny wants to find a way to get things under control herself.Ī bright color palette suffuses this (literally) moving story. Danny’s growing anxiety and worry seemingly transfers to the viewer (at least it did to this viewer).
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