There's no other film quite like Miranda July's unusual Kajillionaire. Her third feature-length to date, Kajillionaire is a character and relationship study disguised as a heist film, cleverly utilising various genres and multiple tones to craft a unique and creative experience.
When a family of con artists are joined by a mysterious new woman for their schemes and scams, their entire world changes before them. Starring an impressive cast consisting of Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Wanger, Richard Jenkins and Gina Rodriguez, Kajillionaire takes quirky characters and places them in outlandish situations with a whimsical energy while still manage to extract the humanity from them.
Written and directed by July, Kajillionaire's distinctively independent, quirky idiosyncrasies won't be for everyone. It's peculiar characters and situation may take time to adjust to, if you manage to connect with at all, but those who find themselves firmly on the film's wavelength will be enraptured in this offbeat exploration of family, belonging and desperation.
Indebted to its marvellous cast who handle every tonal beat and genre shift with ease, the deadpan comedy is skillfully infused into a surprisingly sombre screenplay. Even the smallest moments are hugely revealing about these characters and the relationship they share, with July's direction rejoicing in the vibrant, wacky scenes while still cultivating the quieter moments with just as much affection. A brief detour into the cosmic realm is needless and it is fractionally on the long side - but these are minor qualms that rarely deter from the overall strength of the endeavour.
Evan Rachel Wood shoulders the majority of the film's emotional weight, carefully revealing the complexities of Old Dolio Dyne's relationship with her parents: one that is evidenced as being more transactional than loving. Her awkwardness may appear humorous at first but slowly unspools to reveal something far more profound - an emotional disconnection that comes as a result of her distance from tenderness all of her life. In one scene where she reflects on whether her parents held her as a child, it beautifully depicts the emotion of someone who has otherwise been cauterised from all other feelings up until this stage in her life - and further strengthens the LGBT themes that are later explored more explicitly. It is stunning, nuanced work.
Debra Wagner and Richard Jenkins are a superb pairing and provide strong support, able to have a great deal of fun as the Dyne patriarch before similarly giving way to darker examinations of neglect and dysfunction. Gina Rodriguez brings a jolt of energy with her, acting as the catalyst of change in their world.
Miranda July's Kajillionaire is a moving, surprising, funny and sometimes painful movie that manages each tonal shift with impressive sophistication. The offbeat characters their eccentric world are (thoroughly enjoyable) window dressing to a sombre, emotional story of belonging and family. Beautifully written and wonderfully performed, Kajillionaire is one of the year's best.