Genre: Musical, Indie, Young Adult, Coming of Age

Sometimes I feel I’ve been born in the wrong era, believing that i belonged to the times of The Beatles and Woodstock. Simpler times before the 21st century when good music existed, bands that would later on become legends without knowing so. I’m a fan of indie rock and of vintage fashion, any type of antique or retro accessory always manages to capture my attention. Needless to say that this movie had a combination of both, which led me to become tremendously excited to see it other than the fact that I knew the main cast beforehand and I don’t I would’ve wanted it any other way. After watching the trailer I immediately downloaded all of the songs possible and listened to them while doing housework. The story is filled with  charming authenticity, it’s all like a big song for all of those youngsters who are going through very tough times trying to figure themselves out while using any type of artistic expression as a way to let everyone know how they feel about all the changes that occur while finding a path. It’s mainly dedicated for those who see music as a friend, as the one voice that never fails to respond with an answer and a new light towards the troubles.

The concept behind this film comes from a real music project of the same name,created by Stuart Murdoch the leader of the Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian, which had the idea of making songs about the lives of young women and girls, the struggles they go through to become independent. Later on he put the songs in a certain order which would become the inspiration of turning it all into a motion picture, which actually won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for a Crystal Bear at the Berlin international Film Festival.

We see most of the story through Eve (Emily Browning), a young girl who is a recovering anorexia patient at a mental hospital occasionally sneaking out to the city and has a keen talent for writing lyrics. She befriends James (Olly Alexander) a guitar player who is very picky about many subjects that revolve around music and Cassie (Hannah Murray) an very down to earth upper class girl; together they decide to form a pop group. Throughout the film, we watch Eve integrate herself back into a normal life, having friends, and being the mastermind behind the band, but at the same time we watch her struggle through it all feeling sometimes depressed or numb which doesn’t last very long thanks to Cassie and James. It is a story a lot of young adults can relate to, the music makes the viewer want to dance along, wishing that we could all write lyrics in the same fashion as Eve, it is colorful, whimsical, quirky, makes you feel as if you were in the 1960s with the simplicity of the environment, not many emphasis on the moderna day technology, camera effects that made some scenes feel like an old film. Everything was wonderfully made, simple, never tried to show off, shows us that everyone does have potential for anything and we should never postpone our time for greatness because of fear of failure or leaving the comfort zone.

Highly recommend this film, many people probably won’t like it a lot but if you’re a fan of indie pop and anything with an vintage vibe then this is the movie for you.

Rating: 8 out 10 Dream Catchers

Ratings by other reviewers: 3 out 5 stars

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/20/sundance-film-festival-god-help-the-girl-review