Late Bloomers
Directed by Lisa Steen. Performances by Karen Gillan, Margaret Sophie Stein, Jermaine Fowler. Vertical, 2023. 89 min. Comedy / Drama.
Louise (Karen Gillan) got dumped by her boyfriend over three years ago. She’s still not over it. After a night partying with their mutual friends during which she’s informed he has a new girlfriend, she stumbles to his new apartment, tries to climb onto his window ledge in a vain attempt to see him, and ends up falling and breaking her hip. She then gets put in physical therapy with women well more than double her age; this would cramp most 28-year-olds’ lifestyles, but Louise’s only pastimes are not leaving her apartment, not playing her guitar (though she claims to be a musician), and not returning her dad’s phone calls.
While in recovery, Louise has a few uncomfortable run-ins with Antonina (Małgorzata Zajączkowska), a fellow patient who is very gruff, very Polish, and doesn’t speak a word of English. After showing her a kindness, Louise ends up getting hired as Antonina’s caretaker, a job she takes only semi-seriously. Though they can’t really communicate (not that that stops Louise from talking a mile a minute every second of their time together anyway), through each other’s presence they both learn how to accept the passage of time—that Antonina needs to accept the realities of aging, and Louise needs to actually start acting like an adult and maybe, just maybe, call home.