Lily & Kat – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview

A slightly boring movie in which you watch the lopsided relationship of the leads go from high to low, and repeat, over the course of a week.

Director: Micael Preysler
Writer: Micael Preysler and Megan Platts

Review (with Spoilers) – Below

Characters & Story

Lily (Jessica Rothe) is a FIT graduate, working in a SOHO boutique, who has her own apartment, and a decent life. Well, from the outside looking in anyway. For while she has a job, she hates it; while she has friends, such as Kat (Hannah Murray), she doesn’t have the best relationship with them; and when it comes to boys, well let’s just say she knows how to pick them.

Though with Kat, Lily’s best friend of 4 years, announcing she is leaving, it seems their split leads to Lily being forced out of complacency. Leading to her making decisions which may just destroy the ho-hum nature of her life.

Praise

As always, Murray presents a certain charm which makes even a character which technically is a bastard into someone appealing. Though with the person being a sex connoisseur who likes drugs and alcohol, she is in comfortable territory. With that said, Rote makes an interesting lead and with her little therapy sessions, we are presented with an angle which makes this movie seem like it could make for an interesting, though short-lived, TV program.

Criticism

Perhaps the main issue with Lily & Kat is that we are introduced to their friendship as it is starting to wind down. Thus leading to all the good times, and real good stories, being talked about in retrospect. Leading to us hearing bits and pieces of stories which could have helped build up to the two friends separation better, being omitted.

Alongside that issue though is Rothe who, arguably, isn’t ready to be a leading actress yet. Though, for arguments sake, it could very well be that Preysler and Platts meant to make Lily such a dull character that you could understand her frustrations. After all, Lily claims to have high standards and perhaps it isn’t just when it comes to her men? Maybe for her friends too she wants people more talented, more interesting, and just more capable of bringing an engaging story. To the point that she has no choice but to yell, and act erratic, to be worth taking notice of. Something which, even when she does do so, doesn’t lead you to keep your eye on her for long.

Overall: Skip It

The film seems like it was made to give closure to a niche fandom of some cult hit. It has a taste of interesting stories, never explored, the characters have pasts which could be interesting, but again are never explored, and all we are left with is one insecure girl who we are coerced to try to give a damn about. Something which is rather hard to do when she doesn’t have much in the way of redeemable qualities, outside the physical. Hence the Skip It label for this, at best, maybe good for background noise for a nap.