How to Build a Girl
I think IFC would be wise to find a theatrical release window for this film when movie theatres open back up. The performance by Beanie Feldstein in this film is one that I cannot recommend highly enough. Get this film in front of audiences, and I think you’ve got a stealth success. Feldstein was good in Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart” last year. As Johanna Morrigan in this adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiography, she is an utter delight.
One of the toughest times you can have in your life is when you have something inside you you’re trying to express, and it feels like the world does not want you to express it. It’s a moment you don’t have to have at a particular time, but for Johanna, it’s coming when she is 16. She has the talent to be a writer, but the enthusiasm she has for it can lead her to put people off, even her teacher, who’s just wanting her to follow the assignments. One day, she catches wind of an ad for a writing competition. She’s trying to find a way to help provide for her family, and while she is chosen to read a winning poem on TV, it’s embarrassing, and she tries to find a way to reinvent herself. She gets in with a music mag writing reviews, but after a feature goes awry, she decides it’s time to reinvent herself. Dolly Wilde is born, and her approach is one of sharp, insulting writing. It pays the bills, but it also causes Johanna to lose herself in the process.
I’m not a 16-year-old girl, but boy did Johanna’s story resonate with me. I remember vividly the same moment Johanna is having in her life now, how her ambitions, and what seems to be what other people want lead her down a path that will require a complete rebuild of herself to get out of. Mine was in 2006-2008, and when the emotional crater dropped, boy did it drop hard, and it result in what Johanna has to do by the end of this film, which is a rediscovery of why she is who she is, and what she can do now to connect to that again for herself, but for others to appreciate. I love this type of story, and Moran, who co-wrote the script with John Niven, has given Feldstein a rich character to dig into in this film. Guiding the film as a director is Coky Giedroyc, a TV veteran who has a sure, warm hand for this material, and is plenty capable of making one of the most fantastic elements of the film- wherein Johanna is in her room, speaking to pictures of some of her idols like Sigmund Freud, Maria von Trapp, Sylvia Plath, Jo March, among many others- work as effectively as it does. It’s a device that gives the character a Greek chorus to respond to her, and it’s an entertaining aspect of Johanna’s journey.
“How to Build a Girl” is kind of a one-woman show for Feldstein, but there are fine performances along the way, also, from Alfie Allen as John Kite, a rock star who is the one Johanna is supposed to profile; Laurie Kynaston as Johanna’s brother, Krissi; and Paddy Considine as her father, who has held on to dreams of being a rock star since 1978. His is a smart, complimentary character to Johanna- he’s had the same crisis of identity his daughter has, and he sees her success as a way to maybe get his foot in the door, at last. How that ends is probably the most emotional part of Johanna’s journey, and one that connects because it’s an example of how conforming to what we think will connect us with others will actually separate us further. That’s where “How to Build a Girl” lands hardest, and the way it progresses from there is one of the most emotional and satisfying stretches of film we’ll probably see this year. It’s worth seeking out, and finding an audience.
