Showing Up – A Decent Tortured Artist Character Study

Slice-of-life films only work if audiences can connect with the kind of lives they are portraying. The films of Kelly Reichardt have tended to be on the slow side and when it comes to her latest film, Showing Up, it is no different. However, this one does possess a secret weapon and that weapon is Michelle Williams. Another mundane character study tackling the art world and the life of a tortured artist, it largely succeeds at delivering a compelling albeit slow and minimalist story that somehow finds the right balance between quirkiness and humanity. Offering nothing in the way of bells and whistles, all the film has is its characters who are seemingly there for the most part to add a quirky flavor to the world. While the writing is strong, it essentially won’t matter if some audiences could get bored and tune out which is likely to be a large number as its style will almost certainly not be for everyone. Ultimately, the film is at its best when it tones down the quirkiness and focuses on that struggle. That being said, the former does exist to give the story some purpose and somewhat of a sense of stakes but it sometimes gets in the way of itself and will alienate some audiences.

Showing Up centers around a sculptor named Lizzy (Williams) as she prepares for her latest show in the midst of plenty of professional and personal drama that often got in the way of her work. Following her around, the story tracks her daily struggles trying to balance it all and that struggle was not easy. An introvert who preferred to bury herself in her work, one thing after another got in the way, be it her complicated family dynamic, a wounded pigeon, or simply the lack of a hot shower. Nevertheless, she persisted in spite of the people around her not understanding her or taking her seriously as she worked at an art school to try and make ends meet. While Lizzy may not be the most charismatic person in the world, it was easy to relate to her frustration. Living in a community full of artists specializing in different fields, including her artist landlord neighbor Jo (Chau), the film does gets weird at times in enabling the more eccentric types. In the end, with many of those artists finding success, all she needed was her big break and her latest show looked to be that. The only question was whether or not Lizzy could get there unscathed.

In terms of story, it was that journey and not much else as it was hard to care about anything else in the film outside of her. Perhaps more character development for Lizzy would have worked to the film’s benefit to make it more impactful but telling the story through the lens of that snapshot does more than enough though some will be left wanting more. Ultimately, the best part of the film was the aforementioned Williams as Lizzy. Bringing energy to a film that otherwise lacked it, she was compelling to watch as a neurotic sculptor who wanted to work. Showing off her range, underneath that neuroticism was pain, frustration, and also genius while she was at her happiest whenever she was working. It was easy to connect with her as a character. Everybody else was fine despite just being there and not bringing much in the way of interest to the table.

At the end of the day, Showing Up makes for a decent character study whose pace won’t be for everyone but Michelle Williams definitely showed up.

still courtesy of Sphere Films

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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.