Never Goin' Back (2018)

Never Goin’ Back: Directed by Augustine Frizzell. With Maia Mitchell, Camila Morrone, Liz Cardenas, Michelle Sherrill. Jessie and Angela, high school dropouts, are taking a week off to chill at the beach. Too bad their house got robbed, rent’s due, they’re about to get fired, and they’re broke.

“u0026quot;Never Goinu0026#39; Backu0026quot; (2018 release; 85 min.) brings the (mis)adventures of Angela and Jessie. As the movie opens, Angela has a surprise for Jessie: for Jessieu0026#39;s 17th birthday next week, Angela has bought them a stay in Galveston. u0026quot;How did you pay for it?u0026quot;, asks Jessie. u0026quot;I used the rent moneyu0026quot;, confesses Angela. But the girls can make up for the shortfall if they do all the shifts that week as waitresses. Ala, things donu0026#39;t go quite as planned… At this point weu0026#39;re less than 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, youu0026#39;ll have to see for yourself how it all plays out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouple of comments: the movie is written and directed by Augustine Frizzell, better known for her acting. This is her feature-length directing debut. Here she brings us the story of these two BFFs who are high-school drop-outs, and share a small apartment with Jessieu0026#39;s brother and a buddy of his. From all the looks and feels of it, they are all losers. But take a closer look, and instead youu0026#39;ll see two teenagers who are at the doorsteps of adulthood, and for whom anything is possible still. We never find out anything about eitheru0026#39;s parents or other clues as to how they got to where they are now. Beware, there are some very crude scenes in the film, so if that is not your kind of humor, better stay away from this film. I thought there were some truly hilarious scenes. u0026quot;Dude, I puked him to death!u0026quot; (comment from one of the girls when she accidentally throws up on someone) is an instant classic line. The best sequence in the film comes when the girls accidentally eat spiked cookies and end up high as a kite just before they need to be at work. Hilarity ensues…. just watch! The two leads (Australian actress Maia Mitchell as Angela and Camila Morrone as Jessie) are charming and have obvious screen chemistry. Last but not least, there is tons of great music in the film, both as the the original score (courtesy of singer Sarah Jaffe) and the many song placements in the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Never Goinu0026#39; Backu0026quot; premiered at this yearu0026#39;s Sundance film festival to good acclaim. It finally reached my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, The Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was attended dismally (3 people, including myself). Probably the picture-perfect weather outside had something to do with it. Regardless, if you are in the mood for a truly indie film about the lives and times of two teenagers on the verge of adulthood, Iu0026#39;d encourage you to check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.”