German teenager Franny (newcomer Naomi Cosma) arrives in New Mexico to spend the 2001-02 academic year at a high school in Las Cruces, living with a local family, just before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in writer-director Katharina Rivilis’ wispy but engaging debut feature.
Even if you didn’t know that this was inspired by Rivilis’ own teenage experience as an exchange student back in the day you would probably guess from the way nothing really happens, apart from friends getting made, places being seen and hearts being negligibly fractured. Nevertheless, as befits a film partly backed by Wim Wenders’ Road Movies, this deploys an eclectic soundtrack and lashings of backlighting and magic hour cinematography to help capture the uncanny feeling of being a European stranger in a strange land of enchantment out west. Rivilis also coaxes confident, naturalistic performances from her non-professional cast, who largely improvised their dialogue, making this a good fit for festivals with young audiences.
I'll Be Gone in June
The Bottom Line
Just like the old days.
