Written and directed by Dan Sallitt
Starring by Tallie Medel, Norma Kuhling, C. Mason Wells
Running time: 1 hour and 34 minutes
Not rated - language

by Audrey Callerstrom

Fourteen is a quiet indie film that follows Mara (Tallie Medel) and her friendship with the reckless, troubled Jo (Norma Kuhling) from their mid-20s to sometime in their 30s. Films about female friendships are some of my favorites - Frances Ha, Jennifer’s Body, Girlfriends. At first, that’s what it seems like Fourteen might be. It has some good scenes, and the actresses have chemistry, but it’s a frustrating film to watch due to an overall lack of momentum and some odd choices in camerawork.

Like Frances Ha (and Girlfriends, which undoubtedly inspired it) Fourteen takes place in New York City. Jo and Mara work in similar professions; Jo in social work, Mara in education. Jo is regarded as a beautiful headcase, and much of their friendship involves Mara trying to keep Jo in check. Where is she? Is she OK? Did she file her continuing education paperwork for her job? Mara finds the friendship exhausting, but never severs ties. Mara is a caretaker and a rule follower; by contrast, Jo needs attention and is non-committal. Still, Jo stays in Mara’s life, in some fashion, even as they grow apart shortly after Mara becomes a mother. Years later, Mara is a teacher with a kindergartner, and Jo is living with ne’er-do-wells who all have non-specific jobs. 

It's a story with thought and heart behind it - writer/director Dan Sallitt clearly has lived experience with how depression and anxiety manifests in a person’s behavior. Jo is prone to sleeping a lot, losing jobs, flaking on plans and sudden outbursts. Jo mentions how a new antidepressant has ruined her sex drive.  In what is arguably the film’s standout scene, Jo cries to Mara that she’s trying to get better but doctors don’t listen and the pills they prescribe never work. Jo and Mara piece through Jo’s timeline to determine what went wrong and when she became depressed (which is where the title of the film comes from). Maybe it had something to do with her cat dying? Both Jo and Mara become frustrated. But the rest of the film fails to match the drama of this moment. Jo and Mara (and the people they hang out with) sometimes speak awkwardly and with little inflection. It’s not clear if it’s intentional or if it’s a result of the acting, although it feels like the latter. Similarly, there are zero moments of joy or levity in this film. Do Jo and Mara even like each other? Do they have interests? Do they have fun? It doesn’t seem like it. Although the actresses have chemistry, the characters don’t. It’s as if the film consists only of life’s most mundane moments.

Additionally, Sallitt is not skilled at how he frames each scene. He stays with one shot for far too long. In the middle of the film, the camera idles on a bus station from above the trees. You see people go in and out of the station. You see people walk to their cars. It looks, and feels, like security footage. Where does Sallitt want you to look? Mara doesn’t enter the frame for several minutes. In another scene, in Mara’s home, the camera stays on an empty room for more than a minute. Sallitt also chooses not to include any music, which adds to the movie’s drab feel. It’s not clear what Sallitt is trying to say with Fourteen. If he wanted to tell a story about a woman’s deteriorating mental illness, it would be told from Jo’s point of view – it’s not. If it wanted to show us the life of a friendship, it would take more time establishing who these people are aside from surface details (we get it – Jo’s pretty!) Sallitt is successful at time-skipping through changes in outfits and makeup, but there are hiccups here, too, including a young curly-haired blond toddler who grows into a very different looking older girl. Fourteen has some sweet moments, and little touches that make it feel real, but each scene and each decision Sallitt makes lacks intention or focus. 

Info on where to watch Fourteen available here.