''American Woman'' is a 2019

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Semi Chellas Semi Chellas is a director, writer, producer who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is known for her work on the television series ''Mad Men'' and her film ...

, in her feature directorial debut. It stars

Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

John Gallagher Jr. John Howard Gallagher Jr. (born June 17, 1984) is an American actor and musician best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in the 2006 rock musical '' Spring Awakening'', which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musi ...

Lola Kirke Lola Clementine Kirke (born 27 September 1990) is a British-American actress and singer-songwriter. She starred in the 2015 film ''Mistress America'' and the Amazon Studios television series ''Mozart in the Jungle.'' She appeared in '' Gone Girl ...

David Cubitt David Cubitt (born 18 March 1965) is an English-born Canadian television actor. Born in England in 1965 to a Dutch mother, Jette, and an English father, David, he moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six months ol ...

, Jordan Pettle, Richard Walters and

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...

. Based on the 2003 novel of the same title by Susan Choi, the film is a fictional account of

Wendy Yoshimura Wendy Masako Yoshimura (born January 17, 1943) is an American still life watercolor painter. She is known for her involvement with the leftist terrorist group, Symbionese Liberation Army, during the mid-1970s. She was born in Manzanar, one of ...

, the real-life woman who cared for heiress

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was found a ...

after she was abducted. It had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on April 28, 2019, was released in Canada on June 30, 2020, by

Elevation Pictures Elevation Pictures is a Canadian film distribution and production company founded in 2013 by Laurie May and co-led by Noah Segal. The company made its debut at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Distribution Since its debut in late 20 ...

Plot

Adept at living off the grid ever since she masterminded an act of violence against the American government, 25-year-old former radical Jenny Shimada agrees to take care of three fugitives who are on the run. One of the three fugitives happens to be the kidnapped granddaughter of a wealthy newspaper magnate and has become a national celebrity for embracing her captors’ ideology and joining their revolutionary cell.

Cast

as Jenny *

as Pauline *

as Juan *

as Yvonne *

as Miss Dolly *

as Agent John Spivey * Jordan Pettle as Rob Frazer * Richard Walters as Thomas

Production

In September 2017, it was announced

had joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay she wrote.

Killer Films Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded by movie producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler in 1995. The company has produced a number of the most acclaimed American independent films over the past tw ...

was announced as producing the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on April 28, 2019. It had a gala premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in September 2019.

Reception

, of the reviews compiled by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

are positive, with an average rating of .

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

calls it a "Canadian heist thriller ''American Woman'' knows when to simmer and when to boil over." It competed in the

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. The Festival's ...

in 2019, where it was awarded a Special Jury Mention for Acting. It also won Best Picture, Best Director (

), Best Actress (

), and Best Cinematography (

Gregory Middleton Gregory Middleton is a Canadian cinematographer,Mark Dillon"Gregory Middleton’s sense of vision" '' Playback'', December 15, 1999. who won the Genie Award for Best Cinematography at the 29th Genie Awards for his work on the film ''Fugitive Piec ...

) at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival in 2019.

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, american_woman_2019, American Woman 2019 films 2019 drama films American drama films Canadian drama films Cultural depictions of Patty Hearst English-language Canadian films Films set in the 1970s Killer Films films Films directed by Semi Chellas 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s Canadian films 2019 independent films 2019 directorial debut films