''Showing Up'' is a 2022 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film co-written and directed by

Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt (; born March 3, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for her minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working-class characters in small, rural communities. Reich ...

, in her fourth collaboration with actress Michelle Williams. The film follows a sculptor managing the competing attentions of her art, job, family, and friendships. ''Showing Up'' premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

on May 27, 2022, where it was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

. The film was released theatrically in the United States by

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

on April 7, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews, with particular praise for Williams' performance and Reichardt's direction.

Plot

Lizzy is a sculptor and arts administrator assistant for her mother at her alma mater, the

Oregon College of Art and Craft Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) was a private art college in Portland, Oregon. It granted Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees as well as art-focused certificates. The college offered an Artist-in-Residence program and pro ...

. She is also working on a showing of her work, clay sculptures of women in joyful or anguished movement. Lizzy's landlord and neighbor Jo, a rival artist, frequently spars with her. For days Lizzy is continuously reminding Jo to fix Lizzy's hot water heater, but Jo prioritizes everything else, like hanging a tire swing in the backyard and her two upcoming shows. To have enough time to finish her sculptures, Lizzy takes Tuesday off from work. In the middle of the night, Lizzy's cat maims a

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

that flew into the house. Lizzy throws the pigeon outside, but Jo discovers and rescues it the next morning, before dumping the work of taking care of it on Lizzy. Lizzy is at first actively resentful before she begins to bond with the bird. She ends up taking it to the vet, which costs her $150. When Jo finally comes for the bird, Lizzy lets her know it distracted her and kept her from her glazing. Lizzy visits her father at home. She does not trust the hippies who have invited themselves to stay with him, who are more grifters than friends. Lizzy discovers that he has not had contact with her brother Sean for six months. Concerned, Lizzy goes to see Sean. He has become reclusive, and is delusional, convinced that his neighbors are behind his TV antenna not working. Contacting their mother about it, Lizzy believes her brother needs more than just emotional help, but is told he is simply a misunderstood genius. The weekend right before her show, Lizzy's final piece burns on one side in the

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

. Visiting Sean, he is digging a massive pit in his backyard and insists he is hearing voices, which Lizzy and others choose not to hear. She convinces her mother to come watch him. Lizzy's mother puts Sean to sleep after he suffers the mental episode. Although it was arranged that he would come to the show, when she arrives he is not there. Lizzy is nervous, hearing that he has wandered off alone. At Lizzy's show her family shows up, even Sean, having taken the bus. Jo comes and brings the pigeon. It has its bandages removed by two unsupervised girls. Everyone watches as Sean releases the bird and it flies away. Jo and Lizzy go looking for it, but eventually accept it was ready to fly.

Cast

Production

On January 26, 2021, it was announced that Michelle Williams would star in ''Showing Up'', in her fourth collaboration with writer-director

after ''

Wendy and Lucy ''Wendy and Lucy'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story ''Train Choir''. The film stars Michelle Williams as Wendy, a homeless woman who searches for her ...

'', '' Meek's Cutoff'', and '' Certain Women''. In June 2021,

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 ...

Judd Hirsch Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS series ...

Maryann Plunkett Maryann Plunkett (born c. 1953) is an American actress and singer. Plunkett has performed on the stage both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has appeared in the entire play cycle of Richard Nelson's ''Apple Family Plays''. In 1987, she won the T ...

John Magaro John Robert Magaro (born February 16, 1983) is an American actor. He starred in '' Not Fade Away'' (2012). He also had roles in ''The Big Short'', '' Carol'' (2015) and the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'' and ''The Umbrella Academy''. ...

André Benjamin André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

Heather Lawless Heather Lawless is an American actress, comedian, and voice actress. Early life Lawless was born in Georgia, and raised in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Georgia. Career She began her career as ...

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as '' Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), ''The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

, and

James Le Gros James Le Gros () (born April 27, 1962) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in ''Living in Oblivion''. Career James Le Gros appeared as Rick in Gus Van Sant's 1989 ...

joined the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on June 7, 2021, and concluded on July 15, 2021, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. The project was originally conceived as a biopic of Canadian artist

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

and the 10 years she spent as a landlord hoping it would offer her more free time to work on her art, but instead forced her to paint less. Reichardt said the film officially pivoted away from Carr when she first embarked to Canada to research for the film and "the passport guy asked us what we were doing, and we said, 'We're coming to research a painter named Emily Carr.' And he goes, 'Oh yeah. We learned about her.' That took the wind out of our sails, that she was so famous."

Reception

Critical response

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Kelly Reichardt 2022 films 2022 comedy-drama films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films A24 (company) films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Kelly Reichardt Films set in Portland, Oregon Films shot in Portland, Oregon