Written and directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
Starring Sabrina Carpenter, Maggie Siff, Danny Trejo and Steven Ogg
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

by Melissa Strong

The Short History of the Long Road is a coming-of-age story with elements we need more of: female protagonist (check) who doesn’t chase a boy (check plus), experience unplanned pregnancy and/or sexual assault (check plus plus) or find herself victimized, exploited or violently harmed (noyce!). Writer/director/producer Ani Simon-Kennedy also is female. Next time, and the time after that, I would love to see a story like this with a protagonist who is a young person of color and/or queer and/or trans and/or disabled and/or in the foster system and/or… I could go on, but surely you get the picture. Nevertheless, I quickly became biased in favor of Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) and this movie about her maturation.