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 The movie that kickstarted the debut of Lily McInerny.
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Palm Trees and Power Lines is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Jamie Dack in her feature directorial debut, based on her 2018 short film of the same name. The screenplay by Dack and Audrey Findlay is from a story by Dack. The film stars Lily McInerny as a disconnected teenage girl falling into a relationship with a man (Jonathan Tucker) twice her age.
The film had its world premiere at the 38th Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2022, where Dack won the U.S. Dramatic Competition Directing Award. It was released in limited theaters and on VOD on March 3, 2023, by Momentum Pictures.
Why It's Anything But a Predator
- Incredibly good tension-driven plot that manages to convey what it’s going for pretty well.
- On top of the tension-driven plot, this film also does a phenomenal job of highlighting how loneliness, social isolation, and the demands of modern life can cause havoc in young people's lives.
- Phenomenal and stellar performances, especially the main highlight of the whole movie in terms of performances, which is Lily McInerny as Lea.
- Said performance also captures pure unadulterated innocence and vulnerability that this new "man" (Tom) takes advantage of, especially since what would, later on, occur throughout the film, her damaged upbringing becomes her downfall, and instead of drugs and homelessness, this film manages to convey something a bit more harrowing, especially when you couple Lea's vulnerable state with her naivety.
- Jonathan Tucker nails his performance as Tom, the seducer and abuser, and it’s also clear from the start that he was practiced in this role, and it shows.
- The score is also incredible, especially when it adds tension to the movie.
- While the pacing is slow, it is justified here, because it is exactly how grooming can work. The content during the pacing is formidable as it graphically shows how way it is for an older man to seduce a young girl who does not know the way of the world and has a mother who cares less than she should.
- Great direction from Jamie Dack.
- Heartbreaking ending, especially with Lea sobbing into the phone and asking why Tom abandoned her.
Predatory Qualities
- The film can feel a bit underdeveloped at times.
- Tom can be very unlikable and creepy throughout the movie, but this is to be expected here since this movie tells a difficult story centered around grooming (albeit it conveys this correctly)
Reception
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 76 reviews, with an average score of 7.6/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Palm Trees and Power Lines tells a difficult story with searing skill – and marks Lily McInerny as a young actor with brilliant potential". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 20 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
K. Austin Collins of Rolling Stone commented "This is a movie operating on the principle that the most routine form of this violence isn’t sensational, but subtle." Writing for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico called the film "a character study that’s anchored by a moving breakthrough performance from Lily McInerny, and one that ably supports and balances it from Jonathan Tucker." Tomris Laffly of Harper's Bazaar wrote the film "goes somewhere even darker than Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, with a brave query into the notion of consent and a gut-wrenching parting note that feels like a scream stuck in one's throat."
Roxana Hadadi of Vulture wrote, "Tucker’s performance here is so mesmerizingly disquieting", and he uses "the ability to temper the predatory glint in his eye with soft-spoken sensitivity" to "tremendously unsettling effect". Hadadi added the film "doesn't deviate from where you predict it will go", but concluded, "the relationship McInerny and Tucker build is so convincing in its mixture of exploitation and yearning that Palm Trees and Power Lines capably secures what Lea desires most too: your attention."
While some critics said the film felt "frustratingly underdeveloped", Richard Brody of The New Yorker conceded, "The revelation of Tom's true intent, when it arrives, is a shock nonetheless, to Lea and to viewers, becoming clear in a powerful, agonizing scene that Dack films with a supreme inspiration of empathy and understanding distilled into a single, fixed-frame, five-minute-plus shot, during which the anguish of anticipation yields to terror and revulsion."