Lorelei

Winner of the Jury Prize at the Deauville 2020 American Film Festival, Lorelei easily establishes itself as one of the best films in the official competition. Written and directed by Sabrina Doyle for whom it is the first film, Lorelei is a profoundly striking drama based on the themes of second chance and the reconstituted family.

At the center of the story, we discover Wayland, a former prisoner sentenced to fifteen years in prison following an armed robbery that went wrong. Not only did he not denounce the people incriminated in the robbery, but he also learned to control his anger and to see life from a new perspective. Because of his past as a former member of a motorcycle gang, Wayland has kept in touch with his former friends who continue to live off the law, but has decided to do everything in his power not to relapse and return to prison. He will meet in a church his high school sweetheart who is a single mother raising her three children alone from different fathers and whose first name designates a shade of blue. The reunion between Wayland and Dolores will not only disrupt the course of their lives but also teach him to be responsible as a surrogate father. When Dolores decides to abandon everything including her children to go to Los Angeles, Wayland will not only have to find money but also take care of Dolores' three children and leave for Los Angeles to find her.

The director and screenwriter show with her first film a real mastery in giving life to endearing characters played in the two main roles by Pablo Schreiber (Halo, Den of Thieves, Orange is the New Black, The Wire) and Jena Malone (The Neon Demon, Lovesong, The Hunger Games, Inherent Vice). By making Wayland an anti-hero par excellence and Dolores a dreamer who wants to fulfill her dream linked to her past as a professional swimmer, Lorelei shows us the other side of the coin of an America that lives only for success at all costs. These two people each have their imperfections, their wounds and life has given them no gift. As they try to survive in spite of major worries, Wayland and Dolores will learn as much from each other as they do from each other but also form a real family. While Wayland initially refuses to be a surrogate father and to be called father by the youngest of the children, he will realize that these three children are helping him to become a better man and it is no coincidence that after doing a favor for one of his close traffickers and having lost his job because of it, he refuses to resume his illegal activities.

It is also interesting to see in this film a true portrait of a backward America facing a persistent economic crisis. Like Wayand and Doloras, some people are struggling to live decently because they were not dealt the right cards at birth. We also appreciate this striking contrast between reality and the many original dreams of this film, such as the action in the film between Oregon and California (Los Angeles). How can we not see in the journey of Wayland and Dolores' endearing children between Oregon and Los Angeles as the beginnings of a new beginning? In this respect, the film easily imposes itself as one of the most touching films of the official competition of the deauville American Film Festival and certainly one of our favorites...

Lorelei
Written and Directed by Sabrina Doyle
Produced by Kevin Chinoy, Jennifer Radzikowski, Francesca Silvestri
Starring Pablo Schreiber, Jena Malone, Amelia Borgerding, Parker Pascoe-Sheppard, Chancellor Perry
Music by Jeff Russo
Cinematography: Stephen Paar
Edited by Daniel Myers
Running Time: 111 minutes

Seen on September 10, 2020 at the Casino Cinema (Deauville)

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