Janna’s review published on Letterboxd:
This film makes me miss a certain teenage experience that I never had.
I started crying after about 40 minutes and didn't stop until the film ended.
Lady Bird and I have nothing in common. I was mostly a sad teenager and the exact opposite of a rebel. I was closeted and confused and never experienced any kind of romance. Even admitting that I was unhappy seemed like too much of a rebellious act to me, too much attention, too much trouble for my parents.
We never had any big financial problems, universities where I live are inexpensive and I would have had no trouble getting into the uni of my dreams (quite far away from home, I only could've visited my family every couple of months).
But I decided against it and instead moved to a different city, only a 2-hour train ride away from my old hometown.
A half-baked attempt at independence, while ultimately being too scared of losing the people who made my life comfortable to make a more corageous move.
Now, 2.5 years later, I am stuck between my old friends (who are starting to move on) and new friends who are nice and all... but nowhere near the ones I had at home (and I can't stop comparing the two groups to each other). I want to distance myself from the problems of my family but still feel responsible to come back home every other weekend and make sure they're doing ok.
I feel like a coward most of the time.
So obviously I wish I had been a little more like Lady Bird when I was her age. I wish I was more like her now.
I don't know if this film will inspire me to make any big changes in my life (because I feel stuck and wouldn't even know where to begin) but I hope it will be a reminder to make changes in the way I carry myself through this life.
I don't need to completely abandon my past and my family.
But there is specific a time in life when it is ok to be a bit of a rebel and I better get around to it soon... before the last memory of being a teenager gets swallowed by the pressures and duties of adulthood.
((Sorry, this was more of a personal diary entry than an actual review, this film made me feel A LOT and I needed to get this off my chest.))