Mabel
Nicholas Ma‘s darling coming-of-age film Mabel follows Callie, a 6th-grade botany-obsessed girl who struggles to adjust to her family’s move.
Callie is a genuinely confident and incredibly intelligent tween. Her exasperation with life feels warranted as she navigates starting a new school and the subtle racism from the adults. Feeling uninspired by those around her, Callie sneaks into an 8th-grade science class taught by a spitfire, long-term substitute. She sees an opportunity to connect through her passion, but finds growing up more challenging than growing plants.
Callie’s closest ally is her fern, Mabel. She would rather focus on plants than peers, making it difficult to accept anyone’s attempt to push her beyond her comfort zone. Her parents are doing their best, but Callie’s stubbornness and outright sass offer both laughs and frustration. When she tries to entice Ms. G with an experiment, Callie learns that loyalty and friendship must be carefully cultivated, and even then, it’s up to nature.
Judy Greer is a gem. Having worked with and for scientists, Greer nails the bluntness and often curt tone in Ms. G’s delivery. It’s a performance that wins in its specificity. Newcomer Lexi Perkel‘s raw turn will undoubtedly hit the core of anyone raising a headstrong leader. Perkel settles easily into Callie’s hyper focus. You can see the light in her eyes as the two become one. Perkel is so effortless, you’d think she were the subject of a documentary. 
Mabel struggles slightly with pacing, even at a satisfying 84-minute runtime, but its relatable storytelling keeps it a breezy watch. Anyone who has ever felt different, misunderstood, or any parent of a child on the spectrum (even though Callie is specifically not) will relate to the desire to find connection and genuine friendship. Mabel is a solid family film.
Mabel Trailer:
MABEL Opens in New York at the Cinema Village on April 17
Directed by Nicholas Ma
Written by Nicholas Ma & Joy Goodwin
Produced by Ben Howe, Luca Borghese, & Helen Estabrook
Executive Produced by Jennifer Westphal, Joe Plummer, Bill Helman, John Boccardo, Derek Esplin, Duane Fernandez, Rebecca Fernandez, & Clara Wu
Starring Judy Greer, Christine Ko, Lexi Perkel & Quincy Dunn-Baker*Official Selection – 2024 San Francisco Film Festival*
Biracial Callie (Lexi Perkel) loves trees and plants and little else in Nicholas Ma’s warm debut feature. Surly with her parents and intolerant of people who don’t share her interests, she’s also unhappy about changing middle schools after her family relocates.
But as luck would have it, substitute teacher Ms. G (Judy Greer) is starting a botany unit in a high school science class, and Callie wangles her way in. Held rapt by Ms. G’s lectures and online speeches, Callie develops an experiment raising chrysanthemums in darkness and manages to lure Agnes, her ebullient younger neighbor, into working on the project with her. Precocious, determined, and wryly funny, Callie is a unique protagonist who leverages her love of botany to propel herself into adolescence.
I ONLY REST IN THE STORM
Portugal-born, Brazil-based filmmaker Pedro Pinho tackles racism in an unfiltered, confrontational manner. The dialogue is no-holds-bar and yet entirely calm in its honesty. Alongside Sergio, the audience is thrust into a lively group of queer friends, who argue among their own ranks about blackness and identity. It feels very intimate to witness. It’s a head-on white savior complex reckoning. The longer you watch and learn, white behavior feels very self-congratulatory, regardless of true intentions. 
Performances are spectacular. The immersive cinematography is a character all its own. The film often feels like a documentary with elders casually dropping facts about colonialism in social settings. I ONLY REST IN THE STORM captures you in its boldness, if you can hold on for the three and a half hour runtime. While it would undoubtedly benefit to cut that time in half, you cannot deny the meandering plot points. Each is strong, but as a whole, the film is a five-course gluttonous meal. 
Before we were married, my husband and I abandoned our lives in New York and moved to Hyderabad, India, so that he could work for a local microfinance institution. He and I, both white, served more as a spectacle, fully owning our privilege as we navigated endlessly intrusive questions and the knowledge of our ability to leave the city on our own accord. To be the minority was an eye-opening experience. I ONLY REST IN THE STORM plays for a predominantly white NYFF audience. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall after yesterday’s premiere. One can only imagine the justifications over cocktails.
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