Writer/director Amanda Raymond's sophomore feature, My Favorite Girlfriend, continues the promise hinted at in You Are My Home (2022), her feature debut. In that earlier film, she demonstrated a finely-tuned ability to humanize her characters in the script and then bring that quality out in the performances of the actors portraying them.
With My Favorite Girlfriend, Raymond skillfully applies that craft to the rom-com genre while simultaneously addressing the debilitating seriousness of dissociative identity disorder (DID), a psychological malady that in film is often mined either for laughs or - more often than not - horror. Raymond's film is just the right mix: it is fleet in its comic moments and moving in its dramatic ones.
Girlfriend's two stars - Tyler Johnson as "Conrad" and Bonnie Piesse as "Molly" - each successfully embrace the challenges of their character's struggles - obsessive compulsive disorder in Conrad's case and DID in Molly's. The supporting cast help humanize these characters by anchoring them in the real world. Veteran actor Michael Nouri is particularly effective as a hypnotherapist who helps Conrad - as well as the audience - fully understand the gravity of Molly's condition.
All things considered, My Favorite Girlfriend is a solid second feature and Amanda Raymond is an up-and-coming talent to watch, both as a writer and as a director.
With My Favorite Girlfriend, Raymond skillfully applies that craft to the rom-com genre while simultaneously addressing the debilitating seriousness of dissociative identity disorder (DID), a psychological malady that in film is often mined either for laughs or - more often than not - horror. Raymond's film is just the right mix: it is fleet in its comic moments and moving in its dramatic ones.
Girlfriend's two stars - Tyler Johnson as "Conrad" and Bonnie Piesse as "Molly" - each successfully embrace the challenges of their character's struggles - obsessive compulsive disorder in Conrad's case and DID in Molly's. The supporting cast help humanize these characters by anchoring them in the real world. Veteran actor Michael Nouri is particularly effective as a hypnotherapist who helps Conrad - as well as the audience - fully understand the gravity of Molly's condition.
All things considered, My Favorite Girlfriend is a solid second feature and Amanda Raymond is an up-and-coming talent to watch, both as a writer and as a director.