Forty Naughty Girls (1937)

(Spoilers for Kajillionaire ahead.)

The third feature film from Miranda July, Kajillionaire follows an L.A. family full of small-time scam artists as they try to find a way to make enough money to pay their long-overdue rent. While trying (and typically failing) to do so, they meet a new, vibrant girl named Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) who turns their plans upside down, specifically those of the daughter, Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood). What follows is a gripping, entertaining, gentle, and sublime story of lost and found family, told through the lens of a daughter who wants nothing more than affection from her cold, conning parents.

Kajillionaire succeeds instantly because of its eccentric characters and their dynamics with one another. Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) are cold towards their daughter, who they named after an old homeless man who won the lottery and who they were hoping to steal from. Old Dolio is quiet and reserved, and goes along with what her parents want from her, typically taking the lead in all of their scams and doing the work for them.

Someone Greatis the reason I want to be in love and simultaneously, never fall in love again.

When Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) and Nate (LaKeith Stanfield)- her long-term boyfriend of nine years- break up so Jenny can move to pursue her career in music journalism, Jenny leans on her two best friends for one last epic night in the city.With an immaculate soundtrack that puts any audience member through the range of emotions that heartbreak bestows and a young and diverse cast to support heartbrokenJenny, this modern rom-com is close to perfect for me. I will admit, my favorite genre of film is “movies that take place in New York City”, so I could be biased. While I recognize the cliches that this movie depends on, there is something about the ways writer and directorJennifer Kaytin Robinsonrecognizes modern feminism through this heartbreak story that makes it special.Female friendship, big life changes, and one day after a heart-wrenching breakup are the key ingredientsthat makeSomeone Greata great film.

Let us talk about the soundtrack first. With a complete range of classics and hits from the year that this film was released, it feels quite perfectly curated. The opening montage that brings us through the good and bad of Jenny’s relationship with Nate is backed by Lorde’s “Supercut” which appears to be a fun upbeat pop song but really cuts deep with lyrics like “In my head, I play the Supercut of us, all the love we had and lost”. In today’s reality, any modern lover is also a skilled playlist-creator so it makes sense for this soundtrack to be so stunning.

When we hear the first few beats to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts”, what do we young feminists feel? We feel like theTHAT BI*CH! And Lizzo was right, Jenny is 100% “that bitch” and she turns to music to hype her up in the early stages of her breakup. Jenny dances alone in her undies to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” with a bottle of bourbon with bendy straws in it until her best friend Erin (DeWanda Wise) comes to join her.