''Women Is Losers'' is a 2021 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 ...

written and directed by Lissette Feliciano. It stars

Lorenza Izzo Lorenza Francesca Izzo Parsons (; ; born September 19, 1989) is a Chilean actress and model. She has appeared in films, including ''Aftershock'' (2012), '' The Green Inferno'' (2013), ''Knock Knock'' (2015), and Quentin Tarantino's ''Once Upon ...

Bryan Craig Bryan Allen Craig (born October 27, 1991) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Morgan Corinthos in the soap opera ''General Hospital''. Early life Craig was born in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1991 to Lissett Craig & Donnie Craig, he ...

Chrissie Fit Chrissie Fit (born April 3, 1984) is an American actress. In 2007, Fit rose to prominence after she was cast as the character Mercedes Juarez in the medical drama, ''General Hospital''. She also played the roles of CheeChee in the DCOMs ''Teen Be ...

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings''. He also played Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom ''Kim's ...

Steven Bauer Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban-born American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on '' ¿Qué Pasa, USA?'' (1977–1980) and is perhaps most ...

Liza Weil Liza Rebecca Weil (born June 5, 1977) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Paris Geller in the WB/ CW comedy-drama series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007) and its Netflix revival series '' Gilmore Girls: A Year in t ...

, Cranston Johnson, Alejandra Miranda,

Shalim Ortiz Shalim Ortiz (born February 26, 1979) is a Puerto Rican actor and singer. Personal life Ortiz is the son of Dominican singer, actress, and host Charytín Goyco and Puerto Rican actor and comedian Elín Ortiz. Ortiz married Leslie Ann Machado in ...

and Lincoln Bonilla. The film follows the life of a young woman from her formative years to adulthood in 1960s

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The film’s title is derived from a Janis Joplin song. The film had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

on March 16, 2021. It was released on October 25, 2021, by

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

Plot

In 1967

, Celina Guerrera (

) is a studious teenager who attends a

Catholic high school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

and is from a conservative immigrant family. When the course of her life is altered by an unplanned pregnancy, Celina sets out to rise above poverty and invest in a future for herself.

Cast

as Celina *

as Mateo *

as Marty *

as Gilbert *

as Don Juan *

as Minerva * Cranston Johnson as Calvin * Alejandra Miranda as Dona Carolina *

as Carlos * Lincoln Bonilla as Christian

Production

In February 2019, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' announced

would star in the film written and directed by Lissette Feliciano in her feature directorial debut. In March 2019, it was announced

joined the cast and ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' announced

and

joined the feminist indie drama. The film was shot on location in San Francisco.

Release

The film had its world premiere at

on March 16, 2021. In September 2021,

acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for an October 25, 2021, release.

Reception

''Women Is Losers'' holds a 72% approval rating on the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 ...

. The website's consensus reads, "While it might have benefited from a subtler approach to its message, ''Women Is Losers'' is elevated by outstanding work from lead Lorenza Izzo." Kate Erbland of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' gave the film a B−, writing ''Women Is Losers'' “is an infectious and auspicious debut…surely the start of something wonderful for issetteFeliciano”. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' also praised Izzo’s performance, with critic Tomris Laffly saying, “Izzo delivers a vibrant performance that reinforces her fascinating acting range…It’s a rewarding experience to watch Izzo thread a tricky line with ease here, emitting both a child-like innocence and gradual steeliness that slowly yet convincingly sharpens and matures”.

Accolades

The film has won numerous accolades including, the Audience Award at the 2021 Mill Valley Film Festival, the Richard D. Propes Social Impact Award for Narrative Feature at the 2021 Heartland International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Cordillera International Film Festival, American Independents Award at the 2021 Cleveland International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature award at the 2021

Columbus International Film & Animation Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and ol ...

. Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Naples International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Oxford Film Festival, Best First Time Director at the 2021 San Diego International Film Festival, Best Actress and Best Director at the Breckenridge Film Festival, Best Editor at the Ouray International Film Festival and the Bay Area Filmmaker Award at the 2021 Sonoma International Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{HBO Max 2021 films 2021 directorial debut films 2021 drama films 2021 independent films 2020s American films 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2020s English-language films 2020s feminist films 2020s pregnancy films American coming-of-age drama films American feminist films American independent films American pregnancy films Bowery Hills Entertainment films Films about abortion Films about poverty Films scored by Frederik Wiedmann Films set in 1960 Films set in San Francisco Films shot in San Francisco HBO Max films