To Leslie – A Bleak Redemption Story

Premiering at last year’s SXSW film festival, followed by relative obscurity, To Leslie returned to prominence seemingly out of nowhere as a result of the surprise Best Actress Oscar nomination for Andrea Riseborough. A controversial nomination for some, she was the beneficiary of a well-timed grassroots social media campaign by a string of celebrities singing her praises. With all the noise, the next logical question is whether or not that nomination was deserved. The answer to that question is a resounding yes as she is easily the best part of the film. A tragic character study, Riseborough absolutely gives it her all, delivering an incredibly raw and unflinching performance as a broken down single-mother named Leslie trying to pull herself back up for her son. In terms of tragic character studies, the film doesn’t bring anything new to the table other than an overwhelming sense of bleakness but all that matters is if audiences see Leslie as a redeemable character. While she will undoubtedly rub some audiences the wrong way, Riseborough gives her humanity and heart that she avoids making her a caricature.

To Leslie follows the titular Leslie (Riseborough), a West Texas single mother who wasted all of her lottery winnings on alcohol and drugs and then lost everyone and everything in her life, including her friends and family. Six years later, when it seemed like she was too far gone, she attempted to reconnect with her estranged and now adult son James (Owen Teague). Putting himself out there and giving her mother a chance by letting her stay with him, that experiment quickly became a resounding failure as she showed little effort to try and follow his rules. From there, the alcoholic was sent back home to her parents, Nancy (Janney) and Dutch (Stephen Root). However, it didn’t take long for Leslie to revert to her old ways. Once again fed up with her destructive behavior, she was left to fend for herself once again. As life kept beating her down and there appeared to be no hope left, Leslie was given one more chance by a man named Sweeney (Maron) who offered her a job and room and board cleaning motel rooms.

Leslie’s stint working at the motel wasn’t exactly off to the best start as the job was merely a means to keep supporting her addiction which continued to be a problem. Finally faced with rock bottom once her job was on the line, she vowed to turn her life around by focusing on her job and sobriety though the latter proved to be a challenge. However, this time around, she had a support system in Sweeney and something to fight for which was her relationship with her son. That dynamic between Leslie and Sweeney was another highlight as the two formed a strong bond over their shared histories with addiction. In the end, to truly move on, she would need to face the consequences of her past actions and convince others that she indeed changed. Finding a purpose for her life, Leslie’s journey and all the struggle that came with it made for a compelling character arc and the moment when she found herself on the other side of that was certainly a powerful moment as her efforts surprisingly did not go unnoticed.

Ultimately, the best part of To Leslie was Andrea Riseborough’s spectacular performance as the titular Leslie. She put her heart and soul into it, showing off her range and vulnerability as the flawed single-mother looking to make things right but making the wrong decisions. From the lows to the highs, behind that frantic energy was some real pain that she suppressed through drugs and alcohol. While she may rub some people the wrong way, beneath all those issues was a real person and Riseborough did a great job at making sure of that fact. Meanwhile, the supporting cast was also up to the task with the standout being Maron as Sweeney. The patience showed by that man was amazing though there was something about Leslie that he saw in her therefore felt the need to help. Their chemistry was sensational as was that of Riseborough and Teague as James. Janney and Root as Nancy and Dutch made the most of their screentime.

At the end of the day, To Leslie is a heartbreaking character study that may not rise above the others but Riseborough is a big differentiator.

still courtesy of Momentum Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.