FilmSnobReviews

Title: My Fiona
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Kelly Walker
Starring: Jeanette Maus, Corbin Reid, Sara Amini
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins

What It Is: When her best friend Fiona (Sara Amini) inexplicably takes her own life, Jane (Jeanette Maus) is left devastated. In an attempt to heal her pain- and that of Fiona’s widow Gemma (Corbin Reid) and their son Bailey (Elohim Nycalove), she tries to fill the void that Fiona left behind.

What We Think: This is a really great directorial debut from Kelly Walker! This film pulls you in within its first few minutes- the perfect definition of cutting to the chase. What I was mainly concerned about was how the film would deal with the death of Fiona, whether her character (who is the main reason for the films inciting incident, if not being the incident itself) would be cast aside and used only through flashbacks (which I’ve seen happen countless times in media dealing with this subject matter). Instead, her presence is felt throughout the entire film, conveyed through the characters that carry on without her.

The performances all around are fantastic, Sara Amini is as charming as she is tragic with the little screen time she has. Corbin Reid plays the role of a grieving lover quite well and she never hits a flat note. And finally, the late Jeanette Maus does such an amazing job. I sadly learned of her passing right after watching the film. She was a really talented actress and this film more than anything shows how dedicated she was to her characters. What accompanies these performances is an alright screenplay.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed My Fiona. However, I really would have loved it if there were a few more minutes added onto the runtime, just to flesh out the characters a bit more. It’s probably because of my intrigue of the unique situation this film presents, of a person trying to help her dead best friend’s grieving family (whom she barely knows) while at the same time subconsciously invading their lifestyle. It’s a really good concept and I wish it was expanded upon a little more. Still, those are just nitpicking and the film doesn’t suffer from it all too much. Its execution is quite unnerving and haunting, which is definitely what I expected. The cinematography is very well done here too, with fantastic lighting and coloring and some great camerawork.

Our Grade: B; Overall, without giving away too much, My Fiona has fantastic performances (especially from the late Jeanette Maus), but its story falls a bit short for me. Still- check it out. I’m excited to see what Kelly Walker does next!