#SXSW: “AUDREY” REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek) longs for the glory days, back when she was a talented soap star and not Mother to selfishly entitled Audrey (Josephine Blazier) and Norah (Hannah Diviney), who always comes last and is confined to a wheelchair. Her loveless relationship with her husband Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) is not much better. But a freak accident that lands Audrey in a coma may just turn things around for Ronnie and her family, even if it leads to a plethora of cascading lies and embellishments.

Though that certainly sounds bleak, AUDREY is actually laugh-out-loud funny. The dark humour permeates through the entire picture, yet never comes in front of the ridiculously odd situations this family finds themselves in at every turn. There is a whole lot of escalating cringe – mostly of a sexually depraved nature – and just as much charm and heart. You really feel for Ronnie’s plight and even if some of the things her family does are questionable at best, you want to see them succeed. Kudos to the core Cast for making this family so likeable, and to Blazier for doing such a good job portraying the narcissistic brat of a titular character.

As a debut feature from both Director Natalie Bailey and Writer Lou Sanz, it shows a lot of promise for future projects. And while I was not much of a fan of a third act shift from Comedy to Horror, I had a good time watching AUDREY otherwise. Maybe just avoid watching it with your parents.

Audrey screens at SXSW ’24:

Mar 10 at 2:30PM at Alamo Lamar 4

Mar 11 at 5:15PM at Alamo Lamar 8

Mar 11 at 5:45PM at Alamo Lamar 7

Mar 15 at 2:15PM at Alamo Lamar 6