Directed by Martha Stephens
Written by Shannon Bradley-Colleary
Starring Kaya Hayward, Liana Liberato, Jordana Spiro and Shea Whigham
Running time: 1 hour and 49 minutes

by Audrey Callerstrom

To the Stars is reminiscent of those feel-good dramas that seem ready for a slot on a family-friendly cable network, like the early Natalie Portman films and the mid-career Drew Barrymore ones. The performances are good, even if the characters are two-dimensional, and the film appears to be directed well, even if it’s at least 20 minutes too long. Scenes transition in an organic manner and it’s edited in a cohesive fashion. It also looks good. It’s F-Rated, being written by a woman (blogger Shannon Bradley-Colleary) and directed by a woman (Martha Stephens). But it’s forgettable, contrived and many of the film’s elements, such as the setting (Oklahoma) and the time period (the ‘60s) seemed thrown together as an afterthought and, as such, it prevents us from ever seeing anything human in what is supposed to be an emotional story about two lost souls becoming friends.

Iris Deerborne (Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom) is an outcast. She walks with a hunch and stammers when she speaks and is taunted by local hooligans who call her “Stinky Drawers” (she has a weak bladder, and brings another pair of underwear to school). One day, the new girl in town, Maggie Richmond (Liana Liberato, of Truth and recently Banana Split), using impeccable aim, throws rocks at the boys and gets them to scamper off. Iris and Maggie become fast friends. Maggie is confident and beautiful, while Iris just needs a little encouragement, a visit to a beauty parlor, and for heaven’s sake, we can’t see her eyes with those thick-rimmed glasses in the way! Both girls come from broken homes. Maggie’s father (Tony Hale, TV’s “Arrested Development”) hits her, and Iris’s mother (Jordana Spiro, previously of the series “My Boys”) is a drunk and a bully to Iris while her father (Shea Whigham) watches without intervening. The drama unfolds much like it would in a Lifetime movie, which is not a coincidence. Writer Bradley-Colleary is a screenwriter for the Lifetime Network.

There is nothing about Maggie or Iris that makes them remotely distinguishable from each other besides their looks. Neither of them show an interest or talent in, well, anything. Additionally, Hayward and Liberato are 22 and 25, respectively, and the rest of their classmates at Wakita High School look like they could also be starting their graduate degrees. Hayward struggles at times with the Iris character, but she is overall a likable presence. Liberato’s performance is strong, as is the supporting performance from Adelaide Clemens (Silent Hill: Revelation) as the town’s resident hair stylist. Lucas Jade Zumann (20th Century Women) is endearing as Iris’s love interest. Still, a stilted script, pacing like wet mud and dialogue created by algorithms weigh the film down.

Then, within the film’s last half-hour or so, it decides to become a different film entirely. It’s disorienting and doesn’t work. The pivot comes from the reveal of a secret, using homosexuality as a cheap plot point. It causes a scandal in predictable ways. Hopefully with Stephens’ next feature she can work with a more capable writer than a woman who writes hackneyed blogs about marriage and sex and has done sponsored posts for brands of douche.

On demand Friday, April 24th.