What if Geena Davis was your God?
A theme of this year’s Austin Film Festival has been nonconventional coming-of-age stories featuring young women. First was Lady Bird, then Permanent, and now with Pat Mills’ Don’t Talk to Irene, we finally have an entry from the Great White North.
Irene (newcomer Michelle McLeod) has all the qualities of a high school outsider: She’s fat, has chunky glasses, and is unaware of her quirkiness. She’s also fearless, so the thought of becoming a cheerleader makes perfect sense to her.
Maybe that’s because her mom Lydia (Anastasia Phillips) was head of the squad but had to give it all up when she got pregnant. Teen mom is now overprotective, bitter mom, but Irene proceeds forward anyway.
Irene also has a secret weapon. She imagines Geena Davis talking to her from a poster of A League of Their Own, proclaiming to be Irene’s God. The Geena Davis part is voiced by none other than Geena Davis, and this kitschy throwback idea ends up reminding us of just how amazing Davis is.
After being bullied by Sarah (Aviva Mongillo) and her boyfriend, all three are sentenced to community service at the retirement home next door to the high school (with no thought as to whether it’s a good idea to put delinquents in close proximity with the elderly, evidently.)
Irene puts on her game face, and before long, she has a plan. If she can’t join the cheer squad, then she’ll make her own crew out of old people! Sure, why not? With a little bit of stolen vodka and enthusiasm, she gets them on board.
Before long, they’re actually good and are offered a spot on television talent show. Things don’t ever quite work out in regards to the competition, but friendships are made along the way.
The over-the-top happy ending the caps the film doesn’t feel contrived, but rather feels right for this young girl who knows who she is, what she wants, and won’t let anyone tell her she’s too flawed to have it. Irene is a teenager worth rooting for.
