Saint Frances

Funny, light and perforated with wicked one-liners, it takes the initial premise from Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up and drives it into entirely different and eminently more satisfying territory.

Saint Frances is smart and original and anti-sensationalist. It is also a very good film, which speaks to you but never shouts.

I do wish "Saint Frances" indulged in or two fewer getting-to-know-you montages. But I say that about most every movie that comes along, even the good ones.

[Kelly] O'Sullivan's screenplay, much like her performance, is sweet without ever turning sickly. Alex Thompson's direction, in turn, carefully matches her tone.

Like all the best films about fumbling your way through to deeper self-understanding, Saint Frances doesn't feel too programmed, and leaves a lot of mess on the table.

Loosely structured, but satisfactory in its narrative shape, the picture deftly escorts us through the embarrassments and dilemmas of everyday life in a hipper part of Chicago.

O'Sullivan's script has an emotional honesty and lightness of touch that allows no room for cynicism, and she navigates themes such as "geriatric" pregnancy and postnatal depression with an impressive generosity to her characters.

Thompson's filmmaking sticks to the safe and familiar territory of a lo-fi indie, never pushing its aesthetic to places that might challenge the viewer like its subject matter does.

2020's best coming of age drama.

An unlikely friendship forms between Bridget and Frances, and it's such a joy to follow. An immensely likeable and utterly charming watch.