It was the night before the first day of senior year and I was looking for a movie to watch. As I was browsing, I came across Lady Bird (2017), directed and written by Greta Gerwig. I absolutely loved this film, but I hadn’t seen it since I was twelve years old. Because the film focuses on a girl entering her senior year of high school, I thought that it was the perfect time for a rewatch.
Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a girl entering senior year who is sick of her hometown of Sacramento, California, and who has a bumpy relationship with her mother, acted by Laurie Metcalf. Gerwig is able to balance the lighthearted comedy of a coming-of-age story with Lady Bird’s navigating the wild ride that is high school friendships, boyfriends, and social status. Simultaneously, Gerwig beautifully interweaves a family drama, painting a realistic picture of the push and pull that can occur between family members, especially when big decisions are on the horizon. The mother-daughter relationship is portrayed with such authenticity, not only through the writing but supported by the incredible acting. Ronan portrays Lady Bird with ease, navigating the difficulty of growing up, with the comedic chops to bring laughs to that difficulty. Metcalf, as Ronan’s mother, masterfully illustrates the complex strains that a mother and child, specifically a daughter, can face in the later stage of adolescence. The film has some other standout performances from Timothee Chalamaet and Lucas Hedges as two love interests in Lady Bird's life, each with their own baggage to complicate her life. From a technical perspective, this movie fires on all cylinders with cinematography that harkens back to the early 2000s with its grainy camcorder quality, while still highlighting beautiful pastels and the golden California sun.
There are many coming-of-age movies now, but there is something about Lady Bird that never fails to bring a tear from my eye. I think that the protagonist is one that is extremely relatable, as I see the best and worst parts of me in her, For that, Lady Bird is true. The lesson at the end of the day is to live: there is no right or wrong answer—just support our loved ones through every step of life. Gerwig created a modern masterpiece that I will return to many times throughout my life.