''Lovesong'' is a 2016 American

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 ...

directed by

So Yong Kim So Yong Kim (born 1968) is a Korean American independent filmmaker. She has made four feature films: ''In Between Days'', '' Treeless Mountain'', ''For Ellen'', and '' Lovesong''. So Yong Kim is a recipient of the New York Foundation’s Video Ar ...

, who co-wrote the film with

Bradley Rust Gray Bradley Rust Gray (born 1971) is an American independent filmmaker known for '' The Exploding Girl'' and ''Jack & Diane''. He made the film ''Salt'' in 2003. He is married to filmmaker So Yong Kim, with whom he has frequently collaborated on pro ...

. It stars

Jena Malone Jena Laine Malone (; born November 21, 1984) is an American actress, musician, and photographer. Known for her roles in both independent films and mainstream blockbuster features, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for a ...

Riley Keough Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress, notable for being the daughter of musicians Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough, and granddaughter of actress Priscilla Presley and singer Elvis Presley, and starting a succes ...

Brooklyn Decker Brooklyn Danielle Decker (born April 12, 1987) is an American model and actress, perhaps best known for her appearances in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue. In addition to working for Victoria's S ...

Amy Seimetz Amy Lynne Seimetz is an American actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several productions, including AMC's '' The Killing'', HBO's ''Family Tree'', and films like ''Upstream Color'', '' Alien: Covenant'', ''Pet Sematary'', and ''No Sudden ...

Marshall Chapman Marshall Chapman (born January 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter and author. Biography Early life Marshall Chapman was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. She was the daughter of a cotton mill owner. After she attended ...

Ryan Eggold Ryan James Eggold (born August 10, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for playing Ryan Matthews (90210), Ryan Matthews on the The CW, CW teen drama series ''90210 (TV series), 90210'' and List of The Blacklist characters#Tom Keen, Tom Keen o ...

, and

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi Ew ...

on January 24, 2016. It was released on February 17, 2017, by

Strand Releasing Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong Wee ...

Plot

Sarah is a

stay-at-home mom A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

whose husband frequently travels for work and is dismissive of Sarah's concerns about his absences. Overwhelmed by the isolation of taking care of her toddler daughter, Jessie, she calls her best friend Mindy, whom she has not seen in years, and the two depart on an impromptu roadtrip together with Jessie. The two women discuss their different lifestyles with Sarah believing that Mindy is free-spirited and promiscuous. After a night recalling their sexual experiences in college, the two end up kissing, which leads to them being physically intimate. The day after, Mindy is hurt after Sarah seems to treat the experience nonchalantly, thinking it happened due to the spark of the moment and Mindy's promiscuity. When they stop at a convenience store, Mindy purchases a ticket back to her home in New York City and abruptly leaves. After three years of little contact, Mindy invites Sarah to her wedding. Sarah is now separated from her husband. Sarah at first feels left out and isolated as she is disconnected from Mindy and her life. However, after Mindy invites herself to Sarah's hotel room the two begin to reconnect. At Mindy's bachelorette party the two share a kiss. The day of Mindy's wedding the two go for a walk and discuss their roadtrip, the night that they slept together, and the three years of absence. Mindy feels sorry for leaving, and they tell one another they love each other. Nevertheless, Mindy goes forward with her wedding.

Cast

Production

In December 2014, it was revealed that

and

joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay she co-wrote with

. Alex Lipschultz, David Hansen, and Johnny MacDonald will serve as producers on the film, while

Mynette Louie Mynette Louie is an American film producer of Chinese descent. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and Critics Choice Award in 2018 for HBO's ''The Tale'', won the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award for ''Land Ho!'', and won ...

, Laura Rister, Julie Parker Benello,

Dan Cogan Dan Cogan is an American film producer. He has produced multiple documentary films including ''The Queen of Versailles'' (2012), ''How to Survive a Plague'' (2012), ''The Hunting Ground'' (2015), ''Icarus'' (2017), ''Won't You Be My Neighbor'' (2 ...

Geralyn Dreyfous Geralyn White Dreyfous is an American film producer. She has produced multiple documentary and narrative films focusing on social justice issues including ''The Invisible War'' (2012), '' The Square'' (2013), ''The Hunting Ground'' (2015), '' Wo ...

, and Wendy Ettinger would executive produce.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on January 24, 2016. Shortly after,

acquired U.S distribution rights. The film was released on February 17, 2017.

Critical reception

''Lovesong'' received positive reviews from film critics. It holds an 83% approval rating on review aggregator website

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 ...

, based on 30 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Wise, well-acted, and emotionally resonant, ''Lovesong'' explores emotionally resonant themes through the ups and downs of the bond between two women." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

the movie received 3 stars out of 5.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2016 films 2010s drama road movies 2016 independent films 2016 LGBT-related films American independent films American LGBT-related films American drama road movies Lesbian-related films LGBT-related drama films Films scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson 2016 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films