Title: Katie Says Goodbye
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Wayne Roberts
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Mireille Enos, Christopher Abbott
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins

What It Is: Young Katie (Cooke) is a waitress at a local diner. She has aspirations for more, namely, she dreams of a new life away from her dusty, desert-filled existence. A start over in San Francisco is what she wants and she’s saving money to get there. Doing whatever it is she needs to in order to earn that money and get to that new point. When she meets mechanic Bruno (Abbott) she is smitten. This new relationship coupled with the fractured one she has with her mother Tracey (Enos) is causing a spiral.

What We Think: These characters here, in this movie, they’re miserable. That utter misery is projected on the screen and it makes the film an incredibly difficult watch. Having said that what makes it worse is the fact that there are no real consequences for anyone outside of Katie. I disliked the script and it’s a rather safe approach. Director Wayne Roberts makes a film that looks good but really doesn’t flow nearly the way it should. Overall the whole thing is an exercise is terrible people being terrible to each other in the crappy desert.

Our Grade: D, Often I’ll look for redemption in a tale such as this but sadly there’s none to be found. Roberts is the star of this film from behind the lens but his script work needs some improvement. I likewise disliked his other feature The Professor which I found very…uninteresting. Overall I’d struggle to recommend this one. Specifically I don’t know where the audience for this would be. I commend Roberts for an unflinching dedication to his vision. It’s a respectable thing, but ultimately makes this film what it is. An unnecessarily difficult watch.