Years later, “To Leslie” details the fall of a one-time lottery winner who loses everything he holds dear. British actress Andrea Riseborough (“Nancy”) masterfully plays Leslie, an alcoholic mother from West Texas who hits rock bottom.
Allison Janney, Marc Maron, Owen Teague, and Andre Royo fill a solid ensemble cast in this low-budget indie film. How trauma and addiction plague working-class white families in the South.
Director Michael Morris knows from the start which movie he’s making. She takes away our simple assumptions about who Leslie is, she is so flawed that screenwriter Ryan Binaco forces her viewers to give a lengthy explanation. without explaining why. And he does so with room for surprise. Leslie doesn’t tank her sobriety when we think she does, but her recovery has no narrative finesse.
Cinematography by Larkin Seiple (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) is a true feat of visual character development. Some of the most memorable shots take place at a bar, like the close-up of Leslie sparring with the guy who wants her to bed — “Tell me I’m good.” It is shot with a depth of field that keeps Leslie’s face in focus while the rest of the frame is blurred.
“To Leslie” was probably left on the cutting room floor for another 15 minutes. But that intermittent lag doesn’t detract from the overall satisfaction felt in the film’s final act when Leslie’s rocky road settles into an incredible triumph.
to Leslie
R for explicit language and violence. Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes.rent or buy apple tv, google play and other streaming platforms and pay-TV operators.