{"id":22493,"date":"2024-03-20T21:59:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T01:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493"},"modified":"2024-03-27T12:06:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:06:32","slug":"sxsw-review-dandelion-is-a-soaring-showcase-of-a-songwriter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493","title":{"rendered":"SXSW Review – \u2018Dandelion\u2019 is a Soaring Showcase of a Songwriter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becoming a successful singer-songwriter is not an easy gig. There\u2019s so much competition and it takes connections in order to be discovered, and even then it might be difficult to truly arrive at the right time with the sound and look that those with money and access want to see. Most people just starting their careers work other jobs to pay the bills and write and perform only in their spare time. <\/span>Dandelion<\/i><\/b> is a captivating look at one young woman trying to make it one last time before she gives up for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Theresa (KiKi Layne) lives in Cincinnati, where she gets to play her music at a bar a few nights a week. Overwhelmed by negative interactions with her mother (Melanie Nicholls-King), she decides to travel to South Dakota for a motorcycle rally with a music component that could allow her to be widely seen. Her car breaks down after a disastrous first performance, and her stolen guitar case is rescued by her motorcycle-riding knight in shining armor, Casey (Thomas Doherty). He invites her to join his group of musicians, beginning an intoxicating immersion into the kind of life she\u2019s always wanted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writer-director Nicole Riegel returns with her second feature, following 2021\u2019s <\/span>Holler<\/a><\/i><\/b>, bringing another focused take on moving through the world as a woman. Little of Theresa\u2019s life aside from her present-day relationship with her mother is shown, and audiences instead get to know Dandelion, the name she uses when she\u2019s performing and which she gives to Casey, who asks what her real name is and doesn\u2019t get an answer. Dandelion is the personality she wants to have, and it\u2019s not always easy assuming that identity when, in truth, she\u2019s actually someone different.<\/span><\/p>\n

Music is understandably a big part of <\/span>Dandelion<\/i><\/b>, and all the original songs composed for this film help to establish and maintain its mood. It\u2019s best compared to a John Carney film like <\/span>Once<\/i><\/b>, where the focus isn\u2019t on what the finished product is going to be but instead on the magic of the process and the electricity of the performances, which are hypnotic but also temporary, leaving those playing the music and those watching to move on with their lives after taking part in a moment of true connection and wonder. It\u2019s the kind of music where the lyrics themselves aren\u2019t necessarily memorable, but there\u2019s something entrancing about hearing it played that still lingers long after the scene ends.<\/span><\/p>\n

In less than a decade, Layne has amassed an impressive list of credits, including <\/span>If Beale Street Could Talk<\/i><\/b>, <\/span>Native Son<\/i><\/b>, <\/span>Coming 2 America<\/i><\/b>, and <\/span>Don\u2019t Worry Darling<\/i><\/b>. This could well be a career-defining turn, though she\u2019s just at the beginning of what should hopefully be a long and prolific period of success. She brings a naturalism to the role of Dandelion and a fascinating vulnerability, one that manifests itself most as shyness on stage, detached from the confidence she has in her lyrics and the meaning of her songs when she most needs to appear strong and forceful in front of everyone watching her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paired with Layne, Doherty is instantly this film\u2019s romantic lead, charming but not too self-assured and keenly interested in Dandelion. He seems too good to be true, which is part of what Dandelion is forced to experience as she gets closer to him, not bothering to check on her dead car or to worry about whatever life she\u2019s left behind in Ohio. This film doesn\u2019t glamorize this lifestyle or prescribe an unbelievably optimistic ending for Dandelion on this journey, but it does chart a realistic and very compelling course, with superb performances and music to be found all along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/b><\/p>\n

Check out more of Abe Friedtanzer\u2019s articles<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dandelion <\/i><\/b>makes its world premiere in the <\/span>24 Beats Per Second section<\/a><\/span> at the 2024 SXSW Film and TV Festival and will be released later this year by IFC Films.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becoming a successful singer-songwriter is not an easy gig. There\u2019s so much competition and it takes connections in order to be discovered, and even then it might be difficult to truly arrive at the right time with the sound and look that those with money and access want to see. Most people just starting their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[21129,21126,21131,373,21130,8866,21128,21125,134,20943,21127],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSXSW Review - \u2018Dandelion\u2019 is a Soaring Showcase of a Songwriter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kiki Layne stars as a singer-songwriter in Nicole Riegel's sophomore feature, Dandelion, screening at SXSW and coming soon from IFC Films.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SXSW Review - \u2018Dandelion\u2019 is a Soaring Showcase of a Songwriter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kiki Layne stars as a singer-songwriter in Nicole Riegel's sophomore feature, Dandelion, screening at SXSW and coming soon from IFC Films.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T01:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-27T16:06:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Dandelion.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1328\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abe Friedtanzer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/movieswithabe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abe Friedtanzer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22493\",\"name\":\"SXSW Review - 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