Blue Car

Meg is at high school; her mother works two jobs and comes home late, her father left years ago, and her younger sister is getting steadily worse. Meg writes poems. Auster, her English teacher, notices them and takes her seriously; he gives her time and wants her to enter a poetry competition. He is married. What Meg needs is for somebody to pay attention to her, and the teacher knows it. Karen Moncrieff writes and directs in her first film. Agnes Bruckner plays Meg and David Strathairn plays Auster. Where the film is careful is in how the abuse is built. Auster is not presented as a monster; he is genuinely a good teacher and genuinely sees her talent. The narrative does not separate the two, and that is what is difficult. The poetry functions inside the narrative. What Meg writes is read out and her development is followed directly through the texts. The mother avoids the type; she is not a bad mother but a tired one without time. Agnes Bruckner's performance carries the film and the part drew attention in independent cinema. It screened at Sundance and Moncrieff won an award for the screenplay. Who it is for: viewers who like American independent youth drama and films about the abuse of trust. Who it is not for: the subject is uncomfortable, the pace is slow, and the ending does not deliver the reckoning expected.