At times it feels like Canadian director Ashley McKenzie is setting a challenge with this: are you arthouse enough? Have you got the cinematic endurance? Her film is the story of a friendship between a neurodivergent teenager called Star struggling with her mental health, and a hospital volunteer newly immigrated from China. You could imagine it being turned into a quirky-cute odd-couple indie comedy with a superficial take on neurodivergence. Instead, McKenzie pulls us into Star’s reality, how she experiences the world. It’s a disorientating, unrelaxing two-hour experience, but rewarding.
