SCRAMBLED
34-year-old single Etsy seller Nellie is getting pressure from all angles to get her shit together, find a life partner, and have a baby before “it’s too late.” Post-breakup and opinion bombardment, she decides to freeze her eggs and revisit previous conquests for connection or clarification. SCRAMBLED is an honest exploration of self and patriarchal structures.
Authentically hilarious, audiences get to know Nellie through a series of sexual romps, engagement parties, weddings, baby showers, and pregnancy panic stories. The inundation of opinions and horror stories sounds familiar to me. I got pregnant at 35 and 36, so, naturally, I was deemed a “geriatric.” The combination of rage and fear was no joke. Leah McKendrick nails the ups and downs of that stage of life. It’s an existential crisis that you only truly understand if you’ve experienced it firsthand.
The witty banter between Jesse and Nellie is laugh-out-loud funny. Clancy Brown (The Mortuary Collection) plays Nelly’s Boomer Dad with snappy comebacks and loveably curmudgeon vibes. He is spectacular. Ego Nwodim plays Sheila with a genuine best friend chemistry. One of the most poignant scenes springs from Nellie and Sheila’s relationship. Nellie finds herself an unwitting participant in a mourning group, leading her to share the most prolific monologue. It is insightful, loving, heartfelt, and candid.
McKendrick deserves all the accolades as she has skillfully crafted an intimate narrative with equal parts comedy and care. SCRAMBLED is an outstanding film and a surprisingly deep dive into the female psyche.
SYNOPSIS:
Quintessential eternal bridesmaid Nellie Robinson (Leah McKendrick) constantly finds herself between weddings, baby showers, and bad dates. When she begins to feel like the clock is ticking and is faced with bleak romantic prospects, Nellie decides to freeze her eggs — setting her on an empowering journey to a brave new world where she ultimately discovers “the one” she’s looking for might be herself.
RELEASE DATE:
RUNNING TIME:
RATING:
and some drug use
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Leah McKendrick
PRODUCED BY:
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Julia Swain
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Charlie Textor
EDITED BY:
COSTUME DESIGNER: Kerry Hennessy
MUSIC SUPERVISOR:
MUSIC BY:
CASTING BY:
CAST:
Adam Rodriguez, Laura Cerón, and Clancy Brown
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With a gorgeous opening sequence reminiscent of Creepshow and Spielberg‘s Amazing Stories, ( plus a blink and you’ll miss it homage to director Ryan Spindell as an easter egg) The Mortuary Collection was already going to be one of my favorites at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival 2020. Honestly, you had me at Clancy Brown, a man who haunted my youth in Pet Semetary 2. The visual textures are nothing short of delicious. This film oozes eerie but in a strangely friendly way. Brown’s overall aesthetic lies somewhere between Lurch and Phantasm‘s Tall Man. It’s beautiful for a genre fan.
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