Lovesong (2016) User Reviews

Could have had some better turning points

[valeriaabelof-95492 · 5/10 · 4 November 2017]

Cons: ANOTHER INDIE LESBIAN MOVIE THAT ENDS THE WRONG WAY.. I would have rather seen them having a relationship and then breaking it up for a different reason. I felt like it was an okay movie, with some good jokes, and it deserved some other turning points.

Pros: The photography is great. The beginning has some very tender images featuring nature and a very nice mom/daughter relationship... The performances are quite good!

A little too spare

[ReganRebecca · 6/10 · 7 June 2017]

Lovesong is an intimate relationship drama, lovingly told, the kind of indie that hangs not on the script or dialogue, but on the beauty of the images and the mostly silent performances of its leads. And while the story is intriguing and the actors good, it never really rises up to become something memorable.

Lovesong is, true to its title, a bittersweet love story about two best friends, Sarah and Mindy. Sarah married young and now finds herself isolated as a single mother who only has a toddler to talk to, her husband travelling around the world. She calls her friend Mindy who immediately, like a breath of fresh air, arrives to reassure her, tell her that she's a good mom and to urge her to have fun. The two friends along with Sarah's daughter go an impromptu road trip. But while discussing their past some tension comes up and the two end up pushing their relationship into a more romantic capacity. Things go a bit awry and the movie picks up three years later just as Sarah's relationship is dissolving and Mindy is about to get married.

Writer/director So Yong Kim keeps things simple and naturalistic for her leading ladies (no makeup and a distinct lack of over the top reactions). The two main actresses Jena Malone and Riley Keough both work with her very well. But while the two have a soft chemistry that suits the style of the movie it isn't the kind of burning passion that would have made this film really stand out. And everything feels too subtle, too subdued. I liked this movie well enough while I was watching, but I also have the distinct feeling that it won't exactly stick in my mind.

Still worth watching.

There's a good movie in there somewhere, but we don't see it

[Red-125 · 6/10 · 17 October 2016]

Lovesong (2016) was co-written and directed by the Korean-American filmmaker So Yong Kim. It stars Riley Keough as Sarah, a young married woman who might as well be a single mom. (Her husband is away for months on business.) Sarah lives in a beautiful home, in a beautiful setting. She has a great daughter, Jessie, played at age three by Jessie OK Gray, and at age six by Sky OK Gray. (I assume they are the director's two daughters.)

Enter Sarah's old friend Mindy (Jena Malone) who lives in New York City. They haven't seen each other for years, but they're still good friends. We get a sense that they're more than good friends, but director Kim is discrete about these things. After spending the night together, Mindy leaves for NYC. The women don't meet up again until three years later.

There was a good movie in here somewhere, but it never made its way out. Both women are moody, taciturn, and passive. As an example, it apparently never occurs to Sarah that she could do more with her life than be a mother to Jessie, and wait for her husband to return home. How about leaving Jessie with a sitter and volunteering for a political cause or for a library? Nope. She just sits home, takes walks, and sulks.

Mindy doesn't appear to have any thoughts at all. She makes an offhand comment about work, but she never says what she does and how she does it. She certainly has a gamine-like charm, but we don't see anything else to recommend her as a friend or as a person.

This is the movie to see if you want a story about two attractive women who don't really connect with each other or with the world. Otherwise, find a better movie and watch that one.

We saw this film at the excellent Little Theatre, as part of the wonderful ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will work well on the small screen.

Lovesong is one of 22 films that had their New York State premiere, or their East Coast premiere, at ImageOut. My compliments to the ImageOut Programming Committee for their great success in bringing these films to Rochester.

Well acted

[Red_Identity · 2 June 2017]

Definitely didn't know to expect for this film, but what it eventually ended up being is a solidly written and very well acted tale of two friends. It's not a film driven by plot at all, and for that reason it may not engage all types of viewers, but it does tell a nice human story. More than anything, the two leads are really quite good in this. It's nice to see Riley Keough leading a film like this and I hope she continues to get offered roles, and Jena Malone can always be relied on something extra in her roles. This was no exception.

A little too quiet.

[subxerogravity · 6/10 · 21 February 2017]

Too many scenes use to show the emotional attachment between the two main characters, when all they really seem to do is make the movie longer so it can become a full length feature. Two good friends separated by life reconnect very intensely over a weekend and then three years later see there lives have change when one of them is getting married. I can relate to the second part of that synopsis, when Sarah reconnects with Mindy on her wedding day, after they have not seen each other in three years, you have to understand that no matter how close you two were you are no longer the center of Mindy's life, especially on her wedding day, and now Sarah has to connect with people in Mindy's life who seem closer and you do not know at all. I did enjoy this part. I also like the relationship between Sarah and her daughter Jessica. The interaction between Sarah and the child actresses who played Jessica at 3 and 6 was so real. An amazing combo of timing and acting that's hard to get with little children, it does not feel fake at all so that was real cool to see. But overall, I though the film could have done a better job expressing the plot points. Like I said earlier, I see a long short film being strength out to make a feature length film and it makes the movie dull to watching the two characters look deep into each others eyes for longer than two minutes more that one occasion to express their possible more than friendship love. Interesting story that could been better if the film was tighter.

Beautiful but frustrating

[alisonnic · 7/10 · 17 April 2022]

I very much enjoyed this film-until the end. I thought the acting was beautiful, and I liked the characters and the story. Yes, it moved slowly, but richness and texture made it engaging and worthwhile. I found myself smiling a number of times during the film.

But I was quite disappointed at the end. I felt that Mindy was not being true to herself at the end by going through with the marriage. She was clearly in love with Sarah, who was obviously in love with her. Her emotions earlier in the day, when she had to leave her room and go for a walk with Sarah, made it very clear that she was quite distressed at the idea of marrying Leif-and abandoning Sarah again.

Even if she was in love with Leif, to me it seemed dishonest-and potentially self-destructive-to marry him when she was so in love with Sarah.

Sigh. But monogamy rules, right? Even if it causes intense and long-term pain. Ditto heterosexuality.

Has anyone in Hollywood even heard of polyamory? Pansexuality? Ethical non-monogamy?

Well, anyway. Here's another tragic romance. Enjoy.

Fine , I liked it

[yashoseynian · 7/10 · 17 April 2020]

It's a very realistic movie and everything in this movie feels like real , and it's like u don't feel that u are watching a movie Screenplay is good , two main actresses done their job too well and everything is just good . But the Ending might not be satisfying.

Great actors with little to work with

[a_lytken · 4/10 · 4 April 2019]

Right from the beginning of the movie I sat with a weird feeling of wanting to participate in the illusion of the film but to never be able to submerge in it. The actors all seemed strangely aware of the cameras - like they throughout the film were trying to conceil an awkward smile - even though we are talking about highly experienced actors (this fact rises a lot of questions: Was there a lot of improvising? Did the actors feel unsafe? Did the director fail? Was the cinematographer of an odd character? All of this popped into my head while watching the film which was quite distracting). The choice of telling the story through mainly closeups feels somewhat misguided since the actors didn't have very much to work with - the storytelling didn't provide them with proper background for their characters and didn't build up the proper emotions within the viewers to justify the astetic choices that have been made. The cinematography promise much more emotional rawness and intensity than the director/script/actors could provide and the movie feels like it's missing some pieces in order to make the audience feel what it so eagerly is trying to make them feel.

Great acting.

[FinneganBear · 8/10 · 6 October 2017]

It's not an exciting movie. It moves very slowly but it's only about an hour and 20 minutes long. There's no big payoff. But the writing, directing and acting are superb. It feels like you're watching a documentary. I wonder if most of the dialogue was ad libbed because it feels so natural. Riley Keough (as she did in "The Girlfriend Experience") has an incredible ability to convey all of her character's feelings without saying a word. There are many scenes when the camera focuses on her eyes, body language, wrinkle of her mouth, tone of her voice, body movements and expressions which move the scene along better than any dialogue could ever do.

Jena Malone is also very good but despite her top billing, this is clearly Keough's movie. The movie will disappoint those who want action or suspense or a tidy ending. But for people who appreciate superb acting, writing and directing, the film is rewarding and Riley Keough is amazing.

Favorite rhythm

[w-71474 · 7/10 · 7 May 2020]

Like things that are more literary. You can't wait for love, you can't hope to come, if you don't try hard, you can only suppress yourself. The plot is not dog blood, exaggerated, and true. It's like the Chinese people often say that they have a long life. Suddenly looking back, a look at each other suddenly sparked out, and love came. Tight hugs, light kisses, love, can no longer be stopped. If some love in life is destined to end in tragedy, then please let love be gentle. There is nothing wrong with love, it is time or people.

Superficial and dull, a waste of time.

[acrobaticblood · 2/10 · 21 September 2018]

Really? How is it possible that this movie has so many positive reviews? It's one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. I've been about to leave it at 20 minutes. Nothing happens in the whole movie! It's a fraud. The characters are all unpleasant, incongruous and extremely immature. Dick jokes? really? a group of young women talking (mostly) all the time about sex or doing silly jokes as if they are a bunch of 14 years old virgins, it's not funny at all in fact they all are really annoying. The dialogues are horrible too. We don't get to know anything about them and their lifes, except than one of them do anal sex on Saturdays, yeah... their story or friendship? no, nothing. They seem to have a superficial friendship, they didn't see each other for three years, they are both dating other people... but they are in love, riiiiight.

The main character has the same personality as a piece of furniture, extremely submissive, she doesn't work, she is a young girl under 25 who lives her life as a housewife in the 60s and spends her days taking care of her daughter, anyway she isn't very good at it, I mean, she is not even able to control her, she simply lets her do what she wants. It was all so depressing and dull. I will never see some horrible movie for hipsters again, lesson learned lol

SPOILER: And the movie doesn't even make sense... I mean, they love each other but one of them ends up getting married? oh yeah, makes sense. Is this 2016 or 1950? why the hell have not they end up together? it doesn't make any sense.

Extremely Well Acted and Written

[larrys3 · 8/10 · 26 August 2017]

I really liked this quiet yet powerful indie, which I thought was extremely well acted, written, and directed.

Riley Keough and Jena Malone give superb performances in their lead roles here. Keough portrays Sarah who's in an unhappy marriage with a workaholic husband, while devoting herself to her young daughter Jessie. Malone plays Mindy who is Sarah's best friend but which eventually develops into a sexual relationship between the two.

The chemistry between Sarah and Mindy works exceedingly well throughout the movie, despite the fact that they are conflicted about committing to each other, and thus continue in their daily lives without doing so. Even years later, when Mindy is set to be married the powerful erotic and spiritual connection between the two continues.

Overall, this is one of those films that caught me by surprise and if you like quiet indies that really grab you and are filled with realism, then this one may very well be to your liking. To note, there are several raw and explicit conversational scenes for those that are concerned about this in a movie.

Korean-American filmmaker So Yong Kim ably handles the direction here, and co-wrote the script with her husband Bradley Rust Gray.

Doesn't quite hit the mark

[ceciliarleopold · 4/10 · 9 June 2018]

I went into watching this movie with an open mind (because I usually hate hipster-esque indie films) and a craving for a good love story. I was fairly surprised, the movie doesn't feel too long, and it definitely wasn't boring.The problem I have with this is the queer baiting. Many shows and movies have done this, and then retreated under the "tHeY'rE jUsT fRiEnDs In A cOmPlEx ReLaTiOnShIp" umbrella. The main character is basically does a whole lot of nothing, and does not stand up for herself at all. When her friend leaves, she doesn't say a word and we're left in an incredibly awkward position, and only tuning in to see if they reunite later (which they do, and the outcome is extremely disappointing). We're left to ignore the strong romantic bond they had and sit and watch as the friend of our main character gets married, and we're supposed to be happy for her? The main character didn't really seemed moved when this happened, even though she was talking about how she wanted to have a relationship with her friend and that she loves her only a few moments before. All I have to say is, "Really??!!!".

The Beginning was the Best Part

[awvknj · 5/10 · 8 May 2022]

I loved watching Jesse OK Gray interacting with her 'mother' in the first half. Was the script completely improvised? If she truly memorized dialogue and blocking at such a young age she is indeed a phenomenal natural ... Otherwise her real mother (the Director) did a great job of capturing her daughters spontaneity and made the moment captured on film work to flush out a slice of real life story telling about this mother and young daughter. The rest of the plot (if you can call it a plot) never really had a huge arc -kind of like life; it just kept on keeping on and the moments that were missed were more clearly seen in the rearview mirror.

An outstanding indie love story!

[Hellmant · 9/10 · 25 May 2017]

'LOVESONG': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A drama about two best friends that take an unplanned road trip together, along with one of the woman's toddler daughter. They then become romantically involved together, until one of them suddenly leaves. They then meet again, three years later, at the disappearing woman's wedding. It stars Jena Malone, Riley Keough, Brooklyn Decker, Amy Seimetz, and Jessie OK and Sky OK Gray. It was directed by So- yong Kim, and written by Kim and Bradley Rust Gray. The film had it's world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and it's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics. I found it to be a very beautiful, and exceptionally well made, love story.

Sarah (Keough) is an unhappily married mother of a three-year-old daughter named Jessie (Jessie OK Gray). As she feels like she's starting to have a mental breakdown, Sarah decides to call her best friend Mindy (Malone). Sarah, Mindy and Jessie then go on a road trip together. As Sarah and Mindy talk more and more, they become closer and closer (in a very intimate way). Then Sarah's husband calls. As the reality of the situation starts to set in, Mindy decides to suddenly leave. This leaves Sarah heartbroken. The two best friends meet again though, three years later at Mindy's wedding.

The movie is beautifully shot and acted. The characters definitely seem like real people, and as a viewer you feel like you can really relate to their love and pain. I think the film is an outstanding indie love story. It's pretty subtle and short, and it might leave some viewers wanting more, but I think it's a nearly perfect film. It's a great examination of relationships, and how people react to them. Malone and Keough both give great performances in it, and I think So-yong Kim makes a very good impression as a talented filmmaker to watch out for.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/WXRjz4hXVvs

Small movie examining old friendship.

[TxMike · 29 January 2024]

The first thing one needs to know is that the movie has a strong autobiographical element to it. On the DVD, in the 'extras', the writer-director explains that she had similar experiences growing up, some with boys and others with girls, that is what prompted her to make this movie. She is married and has kids, the two little girls who play the same character at age 3 and age 6 are her daughters.

I came across this movie on DVD from our public library. After seeing a couple of Jena Malone movies recently, I wanted to see if I had missed any and this one came up.

Plus we also like Riley Keough. She plays Sarah, a young married woman with a young daughter and a husband that has to be away from home too much for business. Then her old friend visits, Jena Malone as Mindy. At a gathering later they say they have been knowing each other for 17 years so they must have grown up together from their preteen years. They have some low-key time together then Mindy buys a bus ticket to New York. They don't see each other for another three years, when Mindy is getting married.

The movie has all the feel of an independent, low-budget movie. It has a couple of strange scenes that both my wife and I thought were very odd. Some dirty jokes at the pre-wedding party that seemed way out of place for the audience.

Overall both Malone and Keough handle their roles very well but the movie itself is just so-so, a slice of life of two old friends who aren't quite sure if they love each other more than they love their spouses. I suppose things like that happen in real life.

As bland as all the junk food that poor child endures

[anthonyjlangford · 4/10 · 16 July 2017]

Two vapid and thin leads with barely a shred of an adult conversation between them. Natural visual and editorial style aside, over the few years this story takes place, there's nothing here that teenage friends wouldn't exchange in half a lunchtime. Young teens at that.

The lead character whines about having to look after her own child while being in the privileged position of not having to work. Sarah could take up study or indeed get a job and put her shockingly fed daughter into daycare, where hopefully the child receives some decent parenting. And one wholesome meal. Rather than take any sort of ownership over her life, Sarah bleats and cries. Victim-hood mentality. Woe is me.

The actors do a competent job. Rosanna Arquette shamefully wasted here too. It's really the fault of the director, writers and producers.

Superficial, whiny, self-involved, navel gazing, entitled, immature characters, without any redeeming qualities other than they look good. Perhaps we should be thankful they didn't talk more as they had nothing worthwhile to say anyway. Too long, even at eighty minutes. Tedious.

Beautifully Understated Love Story

[gjacoby-13495 · 8/10 · 5 January 2018]

I haven't seen any of So Young Kim's other movies, but I am going to make an effort. I understand the varied responses of others here, and make no excuses; it is different for me, and this love story really is a Lovesong, one played in the background over several years, which rises from piano to sforzando, and back to quietness. Remarkably acted and directed, Riley Keough and Jena Malone are just perfect in the depiction of their barely suppressed love for one another. The film both delighted and depressed me, but it has become one that I will buy to keep. I do agree with a review of Lovesong by Justin Chang in "Variety" on 25 Jan 2016: "There's a remarkable truthfulness to the film's acknowledgment that people often make enormous decisions rooted not in fear so much as uncertainty, even laziness, as well as a comfort with their lives as they've lived them until the present juncture." What is left unsaid is the consequences of those decisions, that we are left to look out the window and consider. Well done.

Is "Lovesong" a drama, or a very subtle joke?

[JordanSatmary · 4/10 · 30 January 2016]

I saw a screening of "Lovesong" at Sundance.

When someone sees a film at the biggest film festival in the world, there are involuntary expectations that the film should be something extraordinary.

During the screening, this film made me uncomfortable, disappointed, and even angry. The main characters were so unlikable and uninteresting that I couldn't find any moments of enjoyment. Their dialogue was about as complex as a patch of dirt, and their delivery didn't help. Nearly everything about the film felt as amateur as could be. The end of the film was much better than the dreadful beginning. Some interesting characters emerged and some more advanced forms of comedy were introduced.

It wasn't until hours after that I started to think that the film could've been purposefully horrible. I couldn't fathom that a female director could make such shallow female characters. The film reminded me heavily of "The Comedy".

"The Comedy" is about an unlikable man, or boy if you will, that embraces his "hipster" lifestyle and anti-everything attitude even into his late 30's/early 40's. The movie wasn't enjoyable to a large portion of its viewers. I loved it, but I can understand why. It made fun of a huge population "hipsters" very subtly, masking it's insults inside of unlikable characters. "Lovesong" is appearing to do the same thing, except the joke is on unintelligent women and loneliness that turns into lesbian relationships.

"Lovesong" may be the worst worst film, or the best worst film. It just depends on if this film is a legitimate drama, or one of the best played jokes since "The Comedy".

There's slow paced and there's flatline

[conceptjunkie421 · 5/10 · 14 July 2020]

This movie was just kinda under everything--underwhelming, under developed, under communicated, etc. If you're going for slow naturalism you still need a heartbeat, but this script is too lethargic to hold attention. At the end of the day it felt padded when it could have made a really poignant half hour short film...

...or rather it would if the plot and characters were laid out better. The main character is as passive as other reviews say. I can sympathize with a woman winding up in a mundane, boring life where motherhood doesn't feel like her end-all-be-all and her husband has essentially abandoned her. It's a very real-world situation. But she does nothing to improve it. Maybe, MAYBE, her attempt to improve it is by going to her love interest's wedding in hopes of running away with the bride...but I have no idea as very little character motivation is ever established. We don't even know why it ends the way it ends, and instead of feeling indie and human and ambiguous it feels like we just wasted a bloated ninety minutes to watch yet another disappointing end to a LGBT story.

In that way it felt extremely dated. Essentially the same story can be found in numerous LGBT books and films that were made in the 80s, 90s, and even 00s. It's 2020, dude. Do something different.

A new film that equals or even surpasses her landmark debut IN BETWEEN DAYS

[freekyfridays · 10/10 · 15 March 2016]

As we celebrate the official 10th Anniversary of the mumblecore genre, it's exciting to see the only female filmmaker (to be included in the cinematic hipster scene) presenting a new film that equals or even surpasses her landmark debut IN BETWEEN DAYS (2006). This time, actress Riley Keough, who also stars in the Amy Seimetz's new Starz TV adaptation of THE GiRLFRiEND EXPERiENCE (which also premiered at Sundance this year), takes the emotional reigns with gusto as Sarah, a young mother who is completely caught off guard by the sudden reappearance of her college friend Mindy (Jena Malone).

Much like So's overlooked FOR ELLEN (2010), which Paul Dano subtly referenced in Paolo Sorrentino's YOUTH (2015), the power in LOVESONG (named after The Cure's song) lies within the character's inability to express his true feelings. Independent Spirit Awards could be on the horizon for this bundle of true love, but more importantly, make sure you see this on the big screen so that you too can be transported into the whirling clouds during what has to be the most breathtaking sequence on a ferris wheel since Carol Reed's The THiRD MAN (1948).

This is taken from my 2016 Sundance Film Festival wrap up.

Queerbait. And purposeless.

[stephmorgan-48064 · 2/10 · 13 June 2022]

Can I have my 90 minutes back? I have no idea why someone bothered to fund this film. It lacks emotion and floats about without purpose for its entirety. The promise of a queer romance will no doubt draw in folks but it's all a farce. Ultimately Lovesong makes wlw relationships out to be drunken nights between best friends that fill the void until the women reunite with their husbands.

Amazing

[tarunpreetsingh16 · 10/10 · 9 February 2019]

Pretty well narrated and silent acting was just phenomenol for me. And the song, played while the credits were scrolling, was like cherry on top.

Definition of insanity

[westpenn49 · 4/10 · 10 April 2024]

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I watched this twice somehow expecting a story worthy of an hour and a half of my life. What I got, what you will get, is a story a sweet story at that, but not one that ultimately gives any satisfaction. Oh it comes close a couple of times, but like real life it just keeps on keeping on and the real emotions of the moment are forgotten swept away never to have to be dealt with. There is a husband in the background - he is a phantom. There is a husband to be - he will likely become a phantom. There are moments when the main characters can find each other and run away into the night. They don't.

Gorgeous and heartrending

[alicej-75371 · 10/10 · 30 April 2020]

This is one my my favorite movies because it showcases cinema's advantage over other art forms: the ability to convey so much emotion through few words. Absolutely incredible. Riley Keough and Jena Malone are in top form. Director Kim did a phenomenal job guiding them and capturing them on film.

People I know have been in similar situations, so I could imagine what was left unsaid. For those of you who were left scratching your heads, I encourage you to reach out or dig further into queer cinema (eg I Can' Think Straight, Fingersmith, Carol, Call Me By Your Name).