Cannes Review: ‘Showing Up’ gets closer to Kelly Reichardt’s creative process than any of her films yet [Grade: A-]

A disarmingly down-the-line film about a repressed artist trying to communicate a little better with the people around her, Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up is a highlight of Cannes’ admittedly weak Competition. But this is Reichardt’s first appearance at the festival since her 2008 film Wendy and Lucy screened in the Un Certain Regard section, reminding those on the French Riviera just how talented she is – and preparing us for her next. Yet in truth Showing Up, starring Reichardt muse Michelle Williams, has a whole wavelength of its own, and if you can find yourself on it, you’ll be in for one of the year’s most rewarding cinematic experiences.

Williams is Lizzy, a grumpy Portland sculptor and part-time cat lady who’d probably count her ginger tabby, Ricky, among her closest friends. That honour almost certainly wouldn’t go to Jo (Hong Chau), her neighbor and landlady, who has an overall casual approach to life, including the building’s weeks-long lack of hot water. (As you can imagine, it’s a match made in heaven.) Vast areas of Lizzy’s life are entirely unexplored by Showing Up – and, we can assume, by Lizzy herself. One is romance: so guarded is our lead, and so measured a (terrific) performance by Williams, that we never even find out Lizzy’s sexuality, never mind any hints at a dating history. She would probably find the question pointless, and make those feelings known.

Her status as an artist-in-residence at a (now-closed) Oregon art school, where colleagues become celebrities for reasons that aren’t obviously clear, contribute to Lizzy’s bitterness. That she works with her mom (Maryann Plunkett), rarely sees her somewhat distant dad (Judd Hirsch) and can’t get a handle on troubled brother Sean (First Cow’s John Magaro) only contribute to her woes. Hirsch is a real highlight among a stellar supporting cast, playing – somehow – his second retired sculptor in five years. (The sitcom legend, now 87, played the insufferable LJ Shapiro in The Meyerowitz Stories, with which Showing Up has the odd similarity, beyond just Hirsch.) Chau is also particularly memorable as Jo, who provides the most complicated relationship in Lizzy’s life. The way Lizzy yells at her in a tetchy voicemail is not something we see her get close to with anyone else. That might not immediately sound meaningful, but in a movie where facial expressions say as much about our characters as any biography, Reichardt is sure sending a signal. The director does this again when Lizzy, stressing out about an upcoming show where VIP guests are expected, reacts to a friend’s attendance with a simple: “Cool!” It’s about as thrilled as she gets – and, in such a refined role, Williams’s delivery is genuinely infectious.

Ironically, despite appearing to channel her sometimes-antisocial self through Lizzy, Reichardt ultimately brings us closer to her creative process than we’ve ever been. Despite being its own kind of period drama – as mentioned, Lizzy would now be redundant – Showing Up is decidedly more grounded in the present than any of her other films. In her own charming way, Reichardt has made another warm-hearted gem, only heightened by the spikiness of its lead.

Grade: A-

This review is from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release Showing Up in the U.S.

Photo: Allyson Riggs