> REVIEW
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Electrick Children (2012)
Rock n Soul…
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By Helen Adkins | July 2012
DIRECTOR: Rebecca Thomas
WRITER: Rebecca Thomas
Inspired by her time as a Mormon missionary, writer-director Rebecca Thomas’ début film Electrick Children centres on Rachel (Julia Garner), the 15-year old daughter of pious parents (Cynthia Watros and Billy Zane) who lead a Mormon colony in the prairie hills of Utah.
Constrained by religious beliefs and old-style living, the only piece of technology present in their lives is a cassette player used to tape religious statements. When Rachel sneaks down to the basement one night to hear the sound of her own voice, she instead encounters a mysterious blue tape that introduces her to the hypnotic world of rock n roll via The Nerves version of Hanging on the Telephone.
Weeks later Julia discovers she’s pregnant. While she is convinced her miraculous immaculate conception is linked to the music and more specifically the lead singer on the tape, her parents see it differently, accusing her older brother Mr Will (Liam Aiken) and announcing that Rachel is to be married the next day to a local colony member.
Stealing her father’s keys, Rachel flees the colony with the unknowing Mr Will in the back of the truck, and soon finds herself in Sin City where they meet a gang of free-spirited skateboarders including Clyde (Rory Culkin) who agrees to help Rachel find the man on the tape.
Rachel’s inner strength and self belief enables her to navigate the city streets as she quickly assimilates the new world her and Mr Will find themselves in, going to rock concerts, using a cell phone for the first time and peppering her speech with the word ‘cool’. Mr Will fares less well, experimenting with drugs, breaking his arm rolling down a skateboard slope and finding himself in jail.
Thomas’ handling of her subject matter is subtle and intelligently done, evoking life in a sect with non-judgemental balance and just about managing to avoid ‘quirky’ overkill when her naïve protagonist escapes to Las Vegas. The director also refreshingly holds back from plunging Rachel into the lion’s den of depravity in the big city, perhaps losing potential drama in the process but deftly maintaining the delicate tone that pervades the narrative and the performances of the cast.
Beautifully shot by Mattias Troelstrup Electrick Children remains both ambiguous and unpredictable, with the origin of Rachel’s pregnancy never completely resolved, merely echoed by her own mother’s past desires told to her children in the form of a bedtime story.
The possibility of familial abuse is unavoidably present but never laboured, allowing audiences to make up their own minds. Thomas presents the Virgin Birth as a real possibility here, yet focuses more on themes such as finding love and a place on this earth that fulfils the soul.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
A few coincidental beats and structural stumbles aside, Thomas delivers an
understated yet compelling narrative, with restrained dialogue and some darkly
humorous moments. 3
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Guilty of losing focus at times, Thomas’ direction remains visually engaging
throughout, while complex and assured performances from Garner as the angelic
Rachel whose implacable strength powers her character through the narrative,
with an equally strong turn from Rory Culkin as the rootless love interest. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
A fine début from Rebecca Thomas, Electrick Children is thoughtfully and deftly
executed. A director to watch. 3
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