A blue-haired ball of manic vitality, the 20-year-old Winona (Jessica Barden) has dropped out of faculty and moved again residence together with her dad and mom. In an important time for locating autonomy, Winona is stunted. She can not, for the lifetime of her, move her driving take a look at. Even although she has outgrown her longtime pediatrician (Henry Winkler), Winona nonetheless sees him and he tells her she has an anxiousness dysfunction — a label she instantly rejects. She carries on together with her life: partying, getting excessive, gorging on sweet and courting. She meets a strait-laced Ph.D. scholar and issues appear to go on observe. But as may be anticipated, her life hurtles towards a crash.
“Pink Skies Ahead” is about in 1998, when the author/director Kelly Oxford would have been about Winona’s age. Oxford’s debut movie is semi-autobiographical, tailored from an essay of hers, titled “No Real Danger,” and it mirrors the anxiousness she struggled with as a younger grownup.
But for being such a private movie, “Pink Skies Ahead” lacks a particular heart; it feels extra like an amalgamation of various coming-of-age motion pictures over time, from “Ghost World” to “Lady Bird.” It will not be with out tender or pleasant moments — that’s the fantastic thing about a formulation — however there’s a tonal imbalance of comedy and drama. The two continually deflate one another.
The movie takes a couple of distracting turns however rightfully comes again to Winona’s vulnerability. Though Barden is older than her under-drinking-age character, she successfully captures her immaturity and complexity. You could also be left wishing she had extra depth to work with.
Pink Skies Ahead
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Watch on MTV starting May 8.
