20th Century Women
2016 · 1h 59m · Drama
Watch it tonight if you want a smart, tender character study that nails the messy reality of parenting and growing up. Mike Mills directs with real warmth and specificity, anchored by Annette Bening's nuanced performance, and the 1979 Santa Barbara setting gives the whole thing a nostalgic-but-lived-in charm that lingers.
Plot
In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women – Abbie, a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie, a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour – to help with Jamie's upbringing.
Director: Mike Mills
Cast: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Lucas Jade Zumann