I hadn't any idea what this was about and didn't read anything here first, so pardon my ignorance, but I did not realize that the friend was imaginary until very late in the game. I thought this character a puzzlement due to poor writing. The laughs on me, I guess. This is a curious little film. On one hand, the events of this ten year old girl's journey alone (surprise!) across the country is beyond preposterous, but if you put reality aside, a lot of it is interesting & touching. It offers a very realistic performance by a youngster named Mary Cate Williams who carries this little film about a young girl in search of her father, and seemingly just about any woman who would offer her motherly love, as she has no parents and comes from a very troubled upbringing making her both way older, wiser and hard than her number of years on earth would normally allow. It's a difficult film to rate. On one hand it's touching, but on the other, it's unbelievable. The way the film is presented (backflashes near the end of the film to previously shown scenes with the friend no longer in the shot), I don't think viewers were supposed to know in advance that her friend was not real, so shame on IMDB for revealing that in their description. I'm glad I didn't read it. BTW, the sound quality is awful.
17 Reviews
Clearly a home production
allie70128 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
If you didn't understand that Jo was traveling with an imaginary friend, you really missed the whole point. The flashback at the end showing all the original scenes, but this time without the friend, should have spelled it out for you.
Not a great film but earnest. The music by the Duca team was eminently forgettable.
Not a great film but earnest. The music by the Duca team was eminently forgettable.
Decent Drama
billcr1222 October 2021
Mary Cate Williams is Jo,a ten year-old girl whose mother has died and is living in Virginia with a drug addicted father. She leaves home with her best friend and they embark on a journey to find her biological father. They encounter a colorful cast of characters along the way. Williams is excellent and the supporting cast fine. The last parts of the film were a disappointment, especially a scene with Jo and a counterpart speaking to each other with only music playing without explanation. Subtitles are needed as the two girls are sometimes impossible to hear due to bad audio and too loud and annoying music in the background. The soundtrack is a major drawback; the singer ain't Bob Dylan. Overall, worth a watch for Williams performance.
Very low budget movie, young girl named Jo finds a way out of an oppressive home life.
TxMike1 October 2021
Back when my own children were 10 years old or so we made home movies with a portable VHS recorder. The kids were not trained actors and that is very clear. Same with this small movie, the two 10-yr-old girls who carry the story are mostly adequate but my wife and I were frustrated at times by their inability to speak clearly, this caused us to miss some of the dialog. Plus the background music was mostly too loud for the rest of the sounds.
Still I found it to be a worthwhile viewing. Jo is 10, with no mother and a stepdad drunk or drugged all the time in their little home on a small lake. She has to wake him up in the mornings. Until one morning he was unable to wake up. Coincidentally when summer break starts. Jo thinks her real father is an entertainer in Los Angeles so she figures she needs to make the cross-country trip, along with her "friend".
There is a significance to use of "her name WAS" in the title, part of her reinventing her life was to begin to use of her name Josephine. Her trip is a harrowing experience, but of course all fiction. The young actress is fine except for her often unintelligible dialog.
The end credits show that this was a family affair for the writer/director/producer & lyrics writer. I presume most of the "actors" are family and friends, from the last names shown.
No, by normal movie standards this is a pretty poor movie but I am glad I watched it, for its making me think about the plight that kids like this have when they find themselves in an unstable homelife. We found it streaming on Amazon.
Still I found it to be a worthwhile viewing. Jo is 10, with no mother and a stepdad drunk or drugged all the time in their little home on a small lake. She has to wake him up in the mornings. Until one morning he was unable to wake up. Coincidentally when summer break starts. Jo thinks her real father is an entertainer in Los Angeles so she figures she needs to make the cross-country trip, along with her "friend".
There is a significance to use of "her name WAS" in the title, part of her reinventing her life was to begin to use of her name Josephine. Her trip is a harrowing experience, but of course all fiction. The young actress is fine except for her often unintelligible dialog.
The end credits show that this was a family affair for the writer/director/producer & lyrics writer. I presume most of the "actors" are family and friends, from the last names shown.
No, by normal movie standards this is a pretty poor movie but I am glad I watched it, for its making me think about the plight that kids like this have when they find themselves in an unstable homelife. We found it streaming on Amazon.
It's worth it if you make it to the end.
christianpfritz26 October 2021
It's a movie you have to be patient with, there are a lot of loose ends, and some things that happen that maybe need a tad more explanation. Some scenes are maybe a little far fetched, The acting was quality, characters relatable. The plot stays on track mostly. It's not as neat and tidy as a big budget film, but it just isnt, and that's ok. I couldn't do it in one sitting, but I'm glad I came back to it. Not many films can fool me, this one was able, and I was delighted. Spoilers will ruin this film for you.
Score Overkill
Draysan-Jennings11 April 2021
After watching the trailer I thought this film had the potential to be great. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The shaky camera movements and what sounded like the same song playing on repeat every five minutes became intolerable. Felt like I was watching a music video. After about an hour in I had to turn it off. 4 stars.
Realism and I'm sorry spoilers
meljo-6841320 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
So many people bring up the noise of the movie but I watch everything with subtitles so I can't attest to that. But it is a great movie of how a parent less child would deal with life and become aware of how adults function in the most in functional situations. Adults who always grew up without adequate adults or adults who regressed into behaviors that would sabotage any legitimate relationship with anyone of any age. This girl named Jo wavered into a world with a friend who kept her aligned along the way. Doesn't matter how that friend got there but in reality, we will create our own balance to keep true to ourselves without even realizing it. Especially at such a young age. And I'm glad someone had the sense to portray that. Maybe some would have left this friend behind but not leaving that friend behind is what made Jo, Jo. After having to leave her friend she had to become someone else wholeheartedly. She was aware and most aware than most adults are now. This movie was as closest to realism than ever. Some of us create this friend as a buffer to real life because we've never had that person to create it for us. This film is so simplistic yet not enough for those who never had to think outside their own realm. Which is good, power to those to don't have to see it that far but powerful enough to make that connection to those of us that can see the need for this type of film for those who want to or can easily connect to young Jo.
awful
jh_thorn27 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Unbearable music and too loud when there was also talking. Spoiler: she's with the friend she'd been traveling with when a woman from the child care place comes out & asks "what are you doing out here all alone?" and takes her inside. Either that woman left a 10 yo on the steps by herself (highly unlikely), or Jo had been traveling by herself the whole time (highly likely). It just hangs there, though, fitting for such poorly-executed filmmaking i suppose.
Disapointed
lilpest926 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Pretty good little girl road trip picture except until when there's smoking around the little girls. Smoking is bad and smoking around children is downright evil. Besides that was expecting Jo and Selma to kiss what with how they was playing mommies and daddies. Especially with the twist about Selma not being real, kissing her would've been symbolic or something. And on Selma not being real why didn't she jump the train? I guess it would've revealed the twist early but just why wouldn't she jump the train?
Oh and she wored high heels and at the end. High heels gross, went barefoot taking em off but high heels no good.
Oh and she wored high heels and at the end. High heels gross, went barefoot taking em off but high heels no good.
A candle in the night of out world
steve-ruzicka7 April 2021
A rare jewel in the tornado of super hero movies. The journey of Jo is not just the search for her biological father. It is far more a joint journey for the spectators with Jo as she coldly penetrates the world of adults with her only friend Selma. While the movie can be summarized in a few sentences, the emotional attachment we develop for Jo and her friend grows enormously up to the end. Heartbreaking with very dim lights of hope. Mary Cate Williams delivers a sensational performance, supported by the touching help from Eliza Duca. A movie to watch with your heart.
What an expected gem
oliviarobertson-030215 October 2021
I am not fond of children being the main characters in movies with the exception of IT lol but wow these girls were incredible. Joe is such a great character and it's so simple but so deep. Really pulls at your heartstrings and the bootstraps! I Really enjoyed watching that and never heard of it and prime popped it up for me and I am glad it did. It's so easy to look past someone and only see their behavior or facial expression or clothes or smell they have and never understand even on the furthest level how much unbelievable stress and grief and weight some of us carry and would never tell you otherwise. A sad reality in every aspect. Very well done film.
Her Name Was Jo
p_krawzcyk12 April 2021
At first I was kind of reluctant to watch an hour and a half during movie about two ten year old girls. But the film pretty much captivated me right from the start. Mainly due to it's really nice paced dreamy but realistic filming, ànd the heartwarming solid acting of the two starring roles. In contrast to their ages, their performance showed real friendship, persistence through willpower and maturity so incredibly well I could hardly believe it.
The story too was very well written. It was able to show realism parallel to symbolism without disturbing, no even strenghtening the main theme line.
During the movie, the acting and story increase to build a symbiotic relationship and keep lifting one and other to a higher level, and create such a strong final outcome.
Most definitly worth watching.
If you like this movie, be sure to check out 'The Dynamiter' as well..
The story too was very well written. It was able to show realism parallel to symbolism without disturbing, no even strenghtening the main theme line.
During the movie, the acting and story increase to build a symbiotic relationship and keep lifting one and other to a higher level, and create such a strong final outcome.
Most definitly worth watching.
If you like this movie, be sure to check out 'The Dynamiter' as well..
What a pleasant surprise!
cooking-3766826 September 2021
Breathtaking movie that we enjoyed immensely. Expecting a calloused and chilling drama from the preview, and ready to turn it off when it "went Hollywood" we were enthralled from the beginning to end.
Without knowing any of the background about the talented group that put this film together, family and friends, we were compelled to find out who all these "Ducas" are. Very impressive.
Without knowing any of the background about the talented group that put this film together, family and friends, we were compelled to find out who all these "Ducas" are. Very impressive.
Really nice road trip movie
stephcallens11 April 2021
It was pretty good
mccoykluttz11 May 2021
I may be a little but partial because I knew the girl who played Jo (Mary Williams) but I enjoyed the movie. The storyline was pretty good and it was great getting to see someone I know act in a movie. The music got a bit repetitive but that isn't that big of a deal. Great job.
Poignant, immersive
OneAnjel1 November 2021
Her Name Was Jo is a poignant, sometimes shocking, film that takes us through the journey of an impoverished, abused, neglected little girl who struggles to manage through a series of extraordinarily difficult situations. It's a film about pain and hope. Perhaps it's about the kind of people that are all but invisible in a society of fancy marketing and keeping up with the Jones'.
For those complaining about the soundtrack, I think they're missing an important point: This is the soundtrack of Jo's mind; the CD of her father's music and the only thing she has of him.
For many of us, this film is about every hope and sorrow that we crawled through on the way to somewhere... The human strength that propels us forward.
There was a definite church theme in the film, and it felt a bit like the 2 stark ends of faith and trust. One in which we see that faith seems to be fruitless and one in which we see that it embraces us nonetheless.
On a movie site that asks us whether our review contains spoilers, I AM DB manages to put a huge spoiler in their synopsis of this film, one which is intended as a surprise at the very end of the film or which, at the least, is something you slowly realize. Even the official Her Name Was Jo webpage doesn't indicate this surprise. So I won't either in the hope I AM DB will realize their error and fix their write-up.
For those complaining about the soundtrack, I think they're missing an important point: This is the soundtrack of Jo's mind; the CD of her father's music and the only thing she has of him.
For many of us, this film is about every hope and sorrow that we crawled through on the way to somewhere... The human strength that propels us forward.
There was a definite church theme in the film, and it felt a bit like the 2 stark ends of faith and trust. One in which we see that faith seems to be fruitless and one in which we see that it embraces us nonetheless.
On a movie site that asks us whether our review contains spoilers, I AM DB manages to put a huge spoiler in their synopsis of this film, one which is intended as a surprise at the very end of the film or which, at the least, is something you slowly realize. Even the official Her Name Was Jo webpage doesn't indicate this surprise. So I won't either in the hope I AM DB will realize their error and fix their write-up.
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