“To Leslie”: a woman’s self-destructive spiral

The race for the 95th Oscars It had an unexpected protagonist who could well be considered a gala surrounded by Roman soldiers. When Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams announced the nominees for this edition on January 24, When it came to reaching the Best Actress category, surprise struck. Andrew Riseboroughwhose Oscar campaign had come at the last minute (albeit at the hands of actors like Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Paulson, Kate Winslet, Edward Norton, Jane Fonda or Cate Blanchett, who mentioned Riseborough in her acceptance speech of critics awards), managed to sneak among the five candidatescompeting with Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Michelle Williams and Michelle Yeoh.

An application which, of course, was the protagonist of the controversies that arose later, in which a certain part of the American press threw his critical comments with the nomination and this prompted an investigation by the Academy itself, which came to nothing, as the race for the prize ran its course. And it is that, if anything hurt, it was that a production with a budget of less than a million dollars, slipped between Oscar nominations in the face of the multi-million dollar campaigns that were made for titles that remained out of competition, such as “The King Woman” or “Till”. One of the few examples of how a very small project can come into effect, thanks to an innovative campaign which, without a doubt, will rethink what rewards campaigns will look like in the future.

Now, beyond the controversy and the titles, what is “To Leslie”? One point that speaks a lot in favor of Michael Morris’s debut film is that the feature film was already released in Spain before the announcement of the nominations. The reason was that the tape was already caused a sensation at the 60th Gijón Film Festivalwhere they competed in the Official Section and won the awards for Best Actress for Riseborough and Best Actor for Marc Maron. Specifically, the FICX served as a showcase for the Spanish market, where it found distribution. Its Oscar nomination only helped accelerate its commercial release.

Having said that, All that remains is to praise a production which, without a doubt, is a cinematic miracle. Given its low budget, what could be expected from ‘To Leslie’ is a feature film that would carry the conventional elements of American independent cinema. And yes, it does, but Morris’s style shows a director, experienced in making series such as “Five Brothers”, “Billions”, “House of Cards” or “Better Call Saul”, which creates atmospheres that evoke the cinema of Sean Baker. It does so with a thunderous start, with a flashback scene showing the protagonist, the Leslie of the title, transformed into a city hero by winning $190,000 in the lottery.

Six years later, we see how that vivacious woman has become a shadow of who she was, how she spent all that money on alcohol and other vices. Evicted and ostracized, the tape shows her process of personal self-destruction. It begins when Leslie seeks refuge in the home of her son, a 20-year-old who she abandoned six years earlier (despite the lottery number being his birthday) and who has managed to rebuild his life. Here, the tape shows the level of personal degradation of the protagonistgoing so far as to steal from his own offspring to buy alcohol.

A well deserved nomination for Andrea Riseborough. One of the shows of the year

At this point is where you can see the hand of both Morris and the writer, Ryan Binaco (who was inspired by his mother to create Leslie). Far from choosing to turn the spiral of misfortune into an accumulation of fateful moments, the film chooses to paint a terribly human portrait of a woman’s addictions and torments, also showing how difficult it is to get out of the vicious circle in which it is locked up, due to the rejection it causes among the few loved ones it has and who comes from a country where they see as a sort of disinherited queen, that heroine for a day who has promised to open a restaurant with what he had won the lottery and ended up drinking it in shabby joints.

Here ‘To Leslie’ has a certain social aspect, which again links it to Baker’s cinema or Chloé Zhao’s first feature films, since it shows that, in this vicious circle, not only is the protagonist locked up, but also that society itself locks her up. Yes, it is your responsibility to overcome your addictions, but if you don’t have a hand to help you get out of that spiral, there is nothing you can do.

Although the film could have fallen in the simplest way and been a portrait of complete degradation, thus also showing the health crisis that Americans living in the deepest parts of the country are experiencing; ‘To Leslie’ ends up being a bright story, offering its protagonist an opportunity for redemption, conveying a unique humanity. And this is achieved thanks to a screenplay dedicated to its protagonist, the mime of Binaco, seen here to pay homage to his mother, whom he places in a dramatic situation, but with which he avoids recreating himself, being tremendously respectful of the fate of the hero .

Sure, the film would be nothing if it weren’t for Andrea Riseborough. The British actress manages to perfectly convey the portrait of an alcoholic woman. She does it without frills or impositions, she follows the line of not loading inks. Actress who has been working like an ant in the industry since the 2000s, initially with secondary roles and, little by little, with leading roles in independent productions. Riseborough is one of the few exponents of true meritocracy both in his native UK and in Hollywood. A performer who has worked with directors of the stature of Mike Leigh or Alejandro González Iñárritu, her work in ‘To Leslie’ was a chance to see an artist who puts her body and soul into her craft. Of the five Oscar nominees this year, it’s the roundest and fairest nomination.

The premiere of ‘To Leslie’ is to be celebrated, a calm and luminous drama that offers a ray of hope, without losing its sense of social protest. A solid film debut, showing Morris as a director to watch. An example of that beautiful North American independent film that arrives with a dropper on the international market and whose presence is welcome.

Note: 8

The best: Andrea Riseborough gives one of the best performances of the year. Without a doubt, one of the most important roles of her career.

Worse: Its glowing ending was important to be optimistic about, but it won’t appeal to those looking for a much grittier story.