''When I'm a Moth'' is a 2019 American independent drama film directed by

Zachary Cotler Theodore Zachary Cotler (born 1981) is an American filmmaker, poet, and novelist. His first film, ''Maya Dardel'', premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival and was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films and ...

and

Magdalena Zyzak Magdalena Zyzak (born 1983) is a Polish filmmaker and novelist. Her directorial debut, ''Maya Dardel,'' premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival and was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orion Picture ...

and starring

Addison Timlin Addison Jayne Timlin (born June 29, 1991) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Jami Lerner in ''The Town That Dreaded Sundown'' (2014) and Colleen Lunsford in '' Little Sister'' (2016). She is also known for playing Sasha Bingham i ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, then Hillary Rodham. The film is set in 1969 and depicts Rodham during the summer she worked in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

following her graduation from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

. Cotler has stated that the film is "not a biopic".

Cast

Hillary Rodham Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

*TJ Kayama as Ryohei *Toshiji Takeshima as Mitsuru

Production and release

The film was shot in late 2016. Its world premiere was on April 12, 2019, at the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

. It was released by Dark Star Pictures on August 27, 2021 after a delay caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Reception

The film received polarized reviews, attracting praise from independent critics, and largely negative responses from more mainstream publications. 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 ...

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 ...

reported an approval rating of 36% based on 11 reviews. Several critics questioned the premise of the film, with Caryn James of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' calling the movie "pointless." Dennis Harvey of ''Variety'' called the film "an insufferably pretentious arthouse drama." Other critics disagreed, with reviewers at Hammer to Nail and Screen-Space considering the film an "experiment" and an attempt to analyze how Hillary Clinton is seen in America respectively. Some critics liked the script, others considered it "pretentious." Nonetheless, the cinematography was largely praised, with Film Threat calling it "beautiful." The "atmosphere" created was considered a highlight by Less Hat, Moorhead and Movie Nation. Addison Timlin's performance was also largely praised, though

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

's review stated, "It’s difficult to determine whether Timlin’s aggravated rigidity is intentional or if she just can’t act."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 6605336 2019 films American drama films Films set in Alaska Films set in 1969 American independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s Japanese-language films Works about Hillary Clinton 2010s American films