Afternoon Delight — which nabbed writer/director Jill Soloway top directing honors at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival — is the kind of movie that you don’t get to just watch and forget about on the ride home. It gets under your skin and into your pores and it makes you think about the big things in a way few stories do.
I mean, it’s like it didn’t even matter that I’ve never tried to save a sex worker, or that I work full time, or that I avoid the PTA like the plague. I understood this conflicted, frustrating, not always likeable woman more than I’m comfortable admitting and I have not stopped thinking about her since. As Rachel (the insanely talented Kathryn Hahn) sits in her shrink’s office (played to perfection by Jane Lynch) and admits to being unable to get down on the floor and play with her young son, I found myself cringing with familiarity. This is a movie that doesn’t shirk the dark corners of reality. It doesn’t shirk the hilarious corners either, I should add. (It also pulls no punches on L.A. parents, which makes it kind of an extra fun ride if you’re local.)
Also, Jill (the writer/director) is just so damn smart. Last weekend we sat down for a chat, and I really think you should take a few minutes to hear her out on women and hollywood and why she made this particular movie. But then again, I’d listen to her talk about swiss cheese.
And finally, if you’re in L.A., I wanted to invite you to join my friend Rebecca of Girl’s Gone Child and myself, Saturday Night both for a free screening of the movie, and then a Q&A with the amazing Jill Soloway, and the film’s star, Kathryn Hahn, who is completely out of this world.
So come see it with Rebecca and I, and join us for a drink afterwards, won’t you? (If you’re in NY, there are some fun events going on surrounding the movie there too that you can get in on. If you live anywhere else, visit the movie’s Facebook page for info on when it’s coming to your town.) In L.A. but rather go matinee? Club Mom Me has tickets for a Sunday 2:40pm showing.
Space is limited, so RSVP ASAP KWIM?