Gather round my cinephile friends (even you who don’t consider yourself as such), you’ll want to hear this. Have you heard of Lynn Shelton? No? Well, pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. I first became aware of Lynn Shelton after watching her incredibly earnest and sweet picture, Touchy Feely from 2013. Sometimes a movie just hits you right in the solar plexus with its message of “you are not alone,” and that’s what this one did for me. We follow Rosemarie DeWitt’s character Abby. A masseuse by trade, one day she develops an aversion to other people’s skin that throws a wrench in everything. As a writer, this premise makes me think of one of the most effective writing aids I’ve ever been taught in a writing workshop: give your character the biggest obstacle that particular character could face. As a masseuse, developing an aversion to skin and touching other people is pretty much a mountain. Understandably, Abby is lost after that, not knowing what to do without the thing that gives her life meaning and fulfillment. We are introduced to Abby’s niece Jenny (played by the wonderful Elliot Page), her dentist brother Paul (Josh Pais), her boyfriend Jesse (Scoot McNairy), and the incredibly skillful Alison Janney as Reiki healer Bronwyn. Apart from the last, all of the characters seem lost in some way or another. Page’s Jenny has an unrequited crush on someone she can’t avoid, dentist Paul has closed himself off to life in a number of ways, and even Abby’s boyfriend Jesse is floundering in their relationship. I love that the actor’s name is Scoot, by the way. How many people do you know with a name like that? It’s a quiet film with very little plot to speak of. If you’re someone who’s used to action-packed adventures, it might not be for you, but I was moved by the performances and comforted by the characters ability to connect with one another. The littlest connection sparks something in each of them, and they start to come back to themselves and some sense of normalcy. I’d love to rewatch this one soon.

I’m glad I discovered Lynn Shelton while she was still alive. Tragically, she passed at the age of 54 of leukemia, but her work will always be there to discover. According to Wikipedia, she was a stalwart of the mumblecore genre, which is a hilarious term for the subgenre covering a range of independently-produced, small budget films with a focus on character development, interesting dialogue (presumably spoken at a lower volume than usual), and a desire to capture a feeling of authenticity. Fellow directors classified as “mumblecore” include the king of improvised indie cinema Joe Swanberg, known for the Netflix show Easy and several films featuring Jake Johnson (Nick from New Girl). Speaking of New Girl, the actors who played Cece and Winston have a podcast that’s a lot of fun for true fans of the True American players. We’ll get back to New Girl in a bit, as Shelton directed multiple episodes over the course of its run.