Fourteen

Dan Sallitt's 2019 American film follows the relationship between Mara and Jo, friends since middle school, across a decade. Jo grows steadily less stable; Mara tries to help and learns that help has a limit. The formal choice is striking: the jumps in time are unannounced, months pass between scenes, and the viewer only works it out from details. That shows the wearing away of a friendship without dramatising it. Tallie Medel's performance is quiet and exact. The film never builds an emotional peak, which may leave it cold for some viewers. Who it's for: viewers who like American independent cinema and stories of the everyday. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an emotional peak, or avoiding subjects of mental health and substance use.