Josie (2018)

It must be incredibly hard to carve a new niche for yourself as an actor when you’re largely known for one role, but – as Game of Thrones is about to enter its final ever season – this is something the cast are going to have to negotiate; that is, unless they’re doing it already. Josie, starring Sophie ‘Sansa Stark’ Turner, is at least a fair attempt by this actress to do something rather different, and – on paper at least – it’s an interesting premise, promising ‘rural noir’ and dangerous obsessions spilling over into action. We know that bad things are definitely going to happen, as the opening scenes show us police kicking their way into a room; the only question, then, is how we get to this point. Unfortunately, the journey which takes us there isn’t able to sustain the initial promise.

Loner Hank (Dylan McDermott) lives a quiet life, albeit for his well-meaning neighbours intruding on his space from time to time. He goes fishing, he takes his boat out, and he keeps tortoises? When a teenage girl, Josie (Turner) moves in, however, something about this young woman, living independently at such a young age, is a clear spur to action, as Hank grows increasingly protective of her. Josie, meanwhile, busies herself with settling into her new school, making friends with a boy called Marcus. Marcus and Hank already know each other, and the arrival of Josie into their lives inflames the tension between them further. Still, Hank and Josie develop a friendship of sorts, one shot through with jealousy, but in some ways it’s good for Hank: he gets out and about a bit more, and starts to interact more. A push/pull ensues, with Josie seemingly not quite at home amongst adults nor amongst people her own age. And as things progress, it transpires that Hank has his demons, although not the demons imagined for him by the locals, including young Marcus.

Calling Josie ‘noir’ is an odd decision by those marketing this film, as it sets up the immediate issue that this isn’t really noir at all, nor does it seem to have any elements I’d associate with the genre. In fact, it plays a few of its scenes for laughs, which sits a little uncomfortably with the other, more brooding content. Tonally, it feels a little off, and doesn’t add a great deal to the film other than making it feel a little uneven. The characterisation could be more pronounced, too, even if the lack of this is justified by the film’s ending. There are lulls, and I feel as if the film is holding onto its surprise twist in ways which make the rest of the film feel a little like treading water. This is a shame, as McDermott’s Hank has promise, as a character which could have stood a lot more scrutiny.

As for Sophie Turner, she does a reasonable job with the script and the direction she’s given, but she doesn’t quite cut it as a Lolita character which, frequently, the film seems to be implying she is – but any sexuality is shied away from, or takes place off-screen, leaving the allure which is integral to her motivations and her interactions with the men in her life a little lacklustre. The film waves through her rather unconvincing Southern accent by having her say she’s lived all over the country, but this is another factor which holds the audience at bay; she just isn’t quite in the role, to me, and I really don’t think that this is the role to silence Sansa for good.

One of the issues with writing this review up is that I realise I’ve actually got rather less to say about the film than I’d usually find to say. This is absolutely because it’s a very run-of-the-mill, unremarkable film I’m afraid, something to wash over you, neither actively bad enough to draw comment, nor good enough to have lots of strong points to discuss. It all unfolds in a neat (and much appreciated) ninety minutes, at least, but Josie as a whole film is more awkward than brooding, unsure whether to encourage us to laugh at its characters or feel sympathy, and holding onto its big reveal at the expense of doing very much else. It’s all too easy to poke holes in that ending, too, after everything. Overall, this was a slow and frustrating watch, and all of the actors involved could do far, far better.

Josie is released on VOD, DVD and EST on 14th Janurary 2019.