Direction: Nicole Riegel
Country: USA
Holler is a gloomy, small-town drama that is never revolutionary in its views. This tale of survival, written and directed by Nicole Riegel and starring Jessica Barden and Gus Halper, portrays the burdens of financial despair but never refuses to let hope go.
In a decrepit Southern Ohioan town experiencing severe industrial decline, Ruth (Barden) and her brother Blaze (Halper) are compelled to steal scrap metal so that the former can go to college. At first, she doesn’t see this opportunity as a real escape, but a series of incidents ultimately changes her mind. The siblings fend for themselves since their mother, Rhonda (Pamela Adlon), was incarcerated due to pill addiction.
Even if the protagonists' hearts pump with expectation, this low-key film had a numbing effect on me, and my enthusiasm gradually dissipated as the film kept moving to its conclusion. Avoiding any kind of cheap manipulation, the director, who filmed on location in her native Jackson, Ohio, creates environments that expound on her interest to suffocate and stir feelings of misery and abandonment. She actually manages to extract a good measure of doubt and instability from the agonizing restraint she employs.
Pictorially heavy, Holler is acceptable as a realistic look at a family in distress. It’s neither dull nor glorious, and won’t necessarily make you have a blast of emotion, but finds something positive to say among the sterile environments and the performances are consistently strong throughout.
