A Clever Woman review: A small film that asks big questions
The Isle of Wight is the unlikely setting for an emotional goodbye in independent British drama A Clever Woman. Josie Lawrence and Tanya Myers play Dot and Phoebe, sisters who are both performance artists and arriving at the house of their recently deceased mother. Charged with clearing the place, memories begin to flood the rooms, as they discuss who their mother was, and what it meant for them.
The improvisational nature of the film is both a blessing and a curse. Conversations, and the characters who have them, feel authentic, as if the viewer has walked in on the situation. There’s no-one there to spoon-feed the plot and so details are intriguingly unveiled. There’s time to ruminate over gender politics, childhood, and the myths that we create around family. That natural feel can also be frustrating, as the film struggles to come to any kind of conclusion around what it explores. It could be argued that this is entirely appropriate, as life is rarely conclusive, and those who love to watch interesting characters just be together will find something to love here.
With messy updos and often smudged makeup, Lawrence and Myers make for a very watchable duo. Filled with the bravado of arty types, the masks slip as they ask questions about their parents while holding their mother’s possessions, like lawyers in a court case. Anna Mottram is on fine form as Monica, friend and collaborator of the pair who becomes more involved in their past as the film rolls along. Bouncing between these larger performances is James Northcote as Tom, the house sitter whom the women question and come to for support at various times. The younger actor does well to make an impact by letting his co-stars shine.
A small film asking big questions, the plot of A Clever Woman can be as scattershot as its lead characters. However, audiences will recognise the enormous emotions this story confronts.