EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER
(Check out Chris Reed’s Edie Arnold Is a Loser movie review, it’s in theaters now. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
“Our Lady of Undying Sadness” is a hilarious name for a Catholic high school. No doubt, based on how they spoof the institution, filmmakers Kade Atwood and Megan Rico have some experience with the religion and its stricter adherents, as well as with parochial education in general. In Edie Arnold Is a Loser, written by Rico and co-directed by the both of them, these first-time-feature helmers deliver a cinematic blast of fun that is perfect for blasphemers and believers (of the flexible sort) alike. Throw in a super-game cast and we have a delightful bit of coming-of-age irreverence.
Edie Arnold (Adi Madden Cabrera in a star-making turn) is most definitely not a loser (who really is?) but is certainly not popular. Best friends with Frances (McKenna Tuckett, also amazing), she dreams of the usual teenage stuff, which includes lusting after the hunky (to her and her peers) Walter (Lucas Van Orden), whose full name and identity are often spoken as “Walter Boyd, the altar boy.” Laugh at the rhyme, because you should.
Bored with life and filled with the same adolescent angst we’ve all experienced, Edie and Frances head over to the music club Viscous (or maybe it’s “Vicious” – no one’s really sure) on a weekend where the former’s drum skills impress after she takes over for one very drunk member of a band. Thereafter, the two gals decide to form their own group, eventually dubbed “The Nundead,” enlisting classmates Ellen (Alexa Page) and Judith (Niki Rahimi) to make it a quartet. They don’t really know what they’re doing, but it’s punk rock, so who cares? Plus, there’s another cute boy, Iggy (Gabe Root), waiting in the wings once Edie realizes that Walter—excuse me, “Walter Boyd, the altar boy”—is not all he seems.
All the while, they run up against the strictures of the school hierarchy, particularly as embodied by Sister Myra (Star Herrmann), the Mother Superior, though new music director Sister Sheena (Luseane Pasa) is more understanding. Edie’s mother (Cherish Rodriguez) is another obstacle to overcome, more concerned with social status than her daughter’s actual happiness. And then there are the mean girls, headed up Kati Vidal (Alana Mei Kern), who will do anything to tear down those they deem as less than.
It’s a movie about rebellion and finding oneself, edited at a super-fast pace with plenty of silly sound effects added for good measure. Never taking itself too seriously, Edie Arnold Is a Loser proves a winner from start to finish, buoyed by great performances and raucous mise-en-scène. If growing up were always this enjoyable, we’d all do it over again.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
