Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalfe, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges
The frequent star of US indie hits like Frances Ha and Mistress America, Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut is already being hailed a critical hit after early festival screenings.
It’s set in 2002 in Sacramento, California and stars Saoirse Ronan as confused, precocious teenager Christine or ‘Lady Bird’, as she prefers to be called. Drifting through her final year at a strict Catholic school, she is full of daydreams and lofty aspirations for her future, forcing clashes with her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), who is more preoccupied with money and other practical concerns.
Covering semi-autobiographical ground, it could be self-indulgent but instead it’s beautifully and sensitively realised. Ronan and Metcalf’s sensational performances and Gerwig’s sophisticated writing make it an incredibly personal, authentic and involving coming-of-age story and quite possibly a future classic.