Wo ist Kyra? (2017)
25KWo ist Kyra?: Directed by Andrew Dosunmu. With Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland, Suzanne Shepherd, Anthony Okungbowa. In Brooklyn, New York, Kyra (Michelle Pfeiffer) loses her job and struggles to survive on her ailing mother’s income. As the weeks and months go on, her problems worsen. This leads her on a risky and enigmatic path that threatens her life.
“Where is Kyra? the title asks. Ostensibly she lives in Brooklyn, but her real location, for the purposes of this low-lit, depressing mise en scene, is the interior darkness of a middle-aged, jobless, depressed woman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Aided by Oscar-nominated Bradford Youngu0026#39;s shadowy cinematography, director Andrew Dosunmu crafts a near perfect outward evocation of the spiritual loneliness of a woman who has recently lost her mother.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs her life spirals downward spiritually and financially, Kyra finds some solace in the arms of neighbor Doug (Kiefer Sutherland), a part-time job slacker, who tries as much as he can to comfort her even though he is marginalized by the filmu0026#39;s lighting and proxemics. Kyra is desperately alone in a city that forgets about the aging, like the recurring motif of the elderly lady with the cane.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA light larceny is forcing itself on Kyra, and who can blame her? Her credit cards have maxed out, and the job interviews have led nowhere. Although this is not a real thriller, enough of the noirish urban danger bleeds through to confirm the despair so many down and outers must feel in that unforgiving world on NYC and its burbs.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePfeiffer should be recognized for her remarkably restrained and deeply-felt role. Unfortunately, writer Darci Picoult has little dialogue for her, and the lighting is the most powerful vehicle for the despair of urban loneliness and poverty, poverty porn if you will. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhere is Kyra? has a European feel in its languor and an American vibe in its class inequality. Itu0026#39;s solid fare for cinephiles and those who need an antidote for their optimism.”
