A gorgeous spectacle that never sacrifices narrative for beauty
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To know that director A.J. Edwards has worked with Terrence Malick will come as no surprise to the audience for Friday’s Child, but what might surprise some is how well he uses the same beautiful aesthetic as his fellow Texas filmmaker.
In fact, this might be a case of the student exceeding the (recent) work of the master. Fans of taut, orchestrated narratives (like Malick’s most recent trilogy ending in Song to Song) will want to adopt Friday’s Child.
Set mostly in Central Texas — think Waco and Killeen, not Austin — Friday’s Child tells the story of Richie (Tye Sheridan), a young man “aging out” of foster care and set adrift amidst a world of cheap apartments and shitty jobs. From the get go, this isn’t a young punk destined for trouble, yet trouble worms its way into his life nevertheless.
Along the way, he encounters people on both of ends of the respectability spectrum. Joan (Imogen Poots) is dealing with the loss of her mother and appears a bit untethered herself. She introduces Richie to upper-crust culture in a way he could have never imagined.
On the other hand, the oddly named Swim (Caleb Landry Jones), introduces Richie to the basics of being a bad seed, while having fun every step of the way. He’s most definitely the devil sitting on Richie’s shoulder, and things escalate with every hang sesh.
Eventually, Richie has to deal with an enormous problem of his own making. It is easy from a sociological perspective to see how an orphan could be dropped into society, barely equipped to cope with life’s daily grind, and be doomed to fall into a trap. It all seems so inevitable, but after having lived with this young man as he strove for something better, we know it didn’t have to end badly.
Lots of high-minded concepts undergird this film. The title comes from the 19th-century folk song “Monday’s Child,” and the story itself is essentially a modern retelling of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Edward’s credits photographers Williams Eggleston and Stephen Shore for informing the aesthetic of the work.
A hidden gem of this film is revealed in a third-act excursion out west, specifically Marfa, Texas and the Chinati Foundation. This army base turned site-specific museum is internationally known (and a favorite of Austin hipsters, to be sure) but up until now it has never been used as a location for a feature film. Richie and Joan make their way in and around Donald Judd’s huge concrete structures and Dan Flavin’s surreal neon artwork. Just one more thing that makes Friday’s Child special.
It would be shocking if this film doesn’t launch Edwards and his DP Jeff Bierman on a trajectory to making bigger (if not better) films. Friday’s Child isn’t just technically excellent; it is engaging on a visceral level due to superb, understated acting (the cocksure craziness of Landry Jones aside) and a story that doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths and difficult circumstances. This is a film that will reward patient audiences with a bountiful return on their investment.
