Ruby in Paradise

A gentle and nuanced look at a young woman making her place in the world. None of the cars turned into robots.

Do you know what I mean when I say lifelike? "It's been a long time since a kiss made my lips numb." Lines like that. Feelings and doubts that sound poetic just because they're not so simple. And what is that nonchalant, tender and spiritual style of Nunez? All in service of one of the best portraits of a woman I've ever seen. Of American working-class life too.

Excellent and simple drama. Young Ashley Judd carries the entire movie.

aside from the peak-90s dreamy voiceover this is surprisingly 2010s: a young, poor american girl finds herself via the usual stepping stones of Rapey Sociopath Boyfriend, Sanctimonious Hippie Boyfriend, Nearly Becoming A Stripper, Man-Free Self Actualisation. really nails the beachside milieu though, and some moments of dialogue are disarmingly natural and generous, e.g. the telegraphed you-go-girl putdown toward the end getting undercut by both sides backtracking into sincere apologies.