THE STORY – A casual reunion with her high school crush has unforeseen consequences when two young women embark on a high-stakes road trip with an uncertain destination.
THE CAST – Briana Middleton, Stella Everett, Seth Gilliam, Cody Kostro, Eisa Davis, Guinevere Turner & Ella Jay Basco
THE TEAM – Josalynn Smith (Director/Writer) & Alicia Louzoun-Heisler (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 85 Minutes
Young adulthood is a constant state of transition. Anyone who has gone through or is currently going through their 20s knows this. There is a persistent need to move, experiment, advance as an individual, and try to find oneself in the hopes of self-alignment and actualization. These themes tend to come into focus when the young adult return to their hometown, where the land of their childhood suddenly feels too small for them. It’s a weird experience that can thematically launch a character on a journey of growth and self-discovery. But, it can also bring up past ideas and relationships, which may hinder that growth and self-discovery.
“Ride or Die,” the feature debut from Josalynn Smith, follows Paula (Briana Middleton), a 20something queer woman who returns home in the Midwest. Much like most 20somethings in movies, she dreams of moving from her small rural town to the big city, particularly California, to be a director. But, upon chance, she runs into her high school crush, Sloane (Stella Everett), who works at the local thrift shop. Unlike Paula, Sloane didn’t leave the town or go to college. But now, after a couple of years of being removed from high school, the ‘secret crush’ has become pretty obvious and reciprocal. The two immediately hit it off, and when the stresses of each other’s home life become apparent, Sloane convinces Paula to drive both of them to California and start a new life. What begins as an impulsive road trip quickly turns into a series of unfortunate events where Paula must decide whether this fling (and journey) with Sloane is worth it.
Smith is blending many genres within the film: romance, thriller, coming-of-age, adventure, and drama. But all these genres and character beats Smith wants to engage in are far too much for a feature film of 85 minutes. Instead of focusing on one element, none of the themes are fully explored. Audiences never have enough time to buy Paula and Sloane as a fully realized couple. Instead, it comes across as Paula hooking up with a longtime crush – and living her teenage fantasy – who has grown into an unstable individual. Yes, there are reasons for how this character behaves and the decisions she makes, but again, the writing does not support Sloane as a character enough to the point that she comes off as unlikable and dangerous. Instead of rooting for Paula and Sloane and hoping they are able to get out of their (very real and very serious) situations, one just wants Paula to leave Sloand and return home.
In terms of plot, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. From Paula’s car breaking down to being robbed and (almost) kidnapped. Plus, figuring out if this relationship is worthwhile which consists of passive dialogue. This is no insult to Middleton and Everett, who are doing their best with what they are given. Still, Smith and co-writer Alicia Louzoun-Heisler constantly rewrite the same scene of Paula wanting to do something responsible and Sloand convincing her not to. The strongest moments in the film are the silent ones, where Paula and Sloane communicate non-verbally. This allows Middleton and Everett to effectively communicate their characters’ motives and temperaments, making for compelling drama. Middleton also shines in her individual scenes, where she conveys a desperate need for structure and an immense fear of the unknown when everything starts to fall apart quickly.
There are ingredients for an entertaining feature film in “Ride or Die,” mainly from the performers and Arlene Muller’s cinematography, but Smith is simply working with too many themes and events to handle in such a short runtime. This results in half-baked characters who come into events that seem random and over-the-top. If the audience cannot root for the characters (either due to character development or a lack of screen time to develop the relationship), then the circumstances they fall into are not compelling, no matter how dramatic and life-threatening they are.
