A sculptor preparing to open a new show must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends, in Kelly Reichardt's vibrant and captivatingly funny portrait of art and craft.
This beautifully acted, expertly modulated film is a work of such enveloping gentleness that even the worst crises are simply absorbed into the fabric of life and work… We don’t deserve Kelly Reichardt.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2023
Showing Up 2022
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“Williams plays Lizzy, an introverted sculptor in Portland, Ore., who makes clay figures of women. She has a local show of her work coming up, and she's racing to finish her sculptures in time. But the universe isn't making it easy for her. She works full-time in the office at an art college, where her boss is none other than her mom, who, like almost everyone else, doesn't take Lizzy's creative pursuits too seriously. And so Lizzy has to do her sculpting in her spare time, in the apartment she rents out from her friend Jo, terrifically played by Hong Chau.
Jo is also an artist, and a more successful one: Her elaborate mixed-media installations have all the wow factor that Lizzy's lovely but modest sculptures don't. It only adds to the tension that Jo isn't the most attentive landlord.
Reichardt's movie is all about the challenge of finding the time, the space, the money and the energy to pursue your calling. It's also about how making art can be both a joy and incredibly hard work…We get a lot of biopics about creative geniuses, but nothing like the richness of texture and insight that Reichardt gives us.” — Justin Chang, NPR
“Kelly Reichardt, one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, nails this insular vibe and the unspoken supersonic buzz of competition and envy…the piercing specificity of Reichardt's vision, and her insights into the dynamics of an art scene like the one in Portland, are spot on.” — Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert