‘AUDREY’ (SXSW 2024) is dark comic genius

SXSW 2024 color logoAUDREY

Audrey SXSW 2024

Former soap star Ronnie is a delusional narcissist living precariously through her eldest ungrateful daughter. When one of Audrey’s tantrums goes wrong, Ronnie assumes her identity in an exclusive acting class to prove her talent to her family. With Audrey no longer the erratic center of attention, the family realizes the profound effect she has

Josephine Blazier nails the role of Audrey. She is entirely loathsome and vicious. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

Ronnie’s youngest daughter is an afterthought, but actress Hannah Diviney is anything but. When Audrey is in a coma, Norah begins living her best life. Diviney possesses brilliant comic timing, and her chemistry with her castmates is magic.

Ronnie’s emotionally stunted and sexually repressed husband, played by Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, finds inspiration from the oddest place. He rekindles his passion for his wife through the absence of his cruel eldest daughter. Taylor moves from a shell of a man to a stallion. He is a delight.

Jackie van Beek gives Ronnie shameless confidence, owning every second of screen time. Hers is the kind of borderline slapstick comedy that you cannot teach. Jackie van Beek is irresistible, often stealing a scene with little more than a glance. She is perfection. I demand an entire franchise based on AUDREY.

In three distinct acts, the lunacy and lies lead to genuine laugh-out-loud scenes. Lou Sanz‘s script goes in directions impossible to predict. It’s much darker but equally as funny. SXSW 2024 audiences are in for one wacky ride.


Film Screenings

Mar 10, 2024
2:30pm4:07pm
 
Mar 11, 2024
5:15pm6:52pm
 
Mar 11, 2024
5:45pm7:22pm
 
Mar 15, 2024
2:15pm3:52pm

Credits

Director:

Natalie Bailey

Producer:

Michael Wrenn, Dan Lake, Shannon Wilson-McClinton, Diya Eid

Screenwriter:

Lou Sanz

Cinematographer:

Simon Ozolins ACS

Editor:

Katrina Barker

Production Designer:

Helen O’Loan APDG

Music:

Alex Cameron

Principal Cast:

Jackie Van Beek, Josephine Blazier, Hannah Diviney, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor

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About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

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