Princess Cyd (2017)

Why so much hype?

From my favorite movies..

A Masterpiece!

The first must-see film of the year.

I don't review movies much anymore, but there were things about Princess Cyd that I wanted to make note of, in hopes that others who are '... hmm... not sure..'. might give it a chance if they come across it. It's on Netflix and I'm sure available other places too.I've watched a lot of indie dramas through my life and rarely have I come across one that felt as satisfying as this by the closing credits. Poignant without being saccharine, intelligent without being "clever", slow but well paced. Mostly though, I was impressed at the choices made by the writer/director, and very probably the editor, to avoid dramatic cliches and over-used tropes. There's a sense of quiet subversion at work here, a sense of veering off in a new direction at the moments we've been trained to think 'Ohhh, I know exactly where this is about to go, and ohhh I wish it wasn't.' Pleasantly surprising. I don't want to give much away, let others be equally surprised.If you like films that make you feel you haven't seen them before, that show restraint and intelligent plotting, well you could do a hell of a lot worse than Princess Cyd. I kinda loved it. 8/10 is high for me.

A young girl goes to spend the summer with her famous writer aunt. They haven't seen each other for a long time, for reasons unknown, and the entire film is about the interaction between the two women and some locals. There is some lesbian romance involved, discussions about books and sex and a bit of coming of age. The acting is good, the characters complex, the story all about exploring those characters. There is little tension and it's all about women being women. If it weren't for the success of Call My By Your Name I would have liked almost everything about it. However, with that movie in mind, Princess Cyd felt a little bit derivative, although the subject matter is reasonably different. All and all, a movie I recommend to people who enjoy complex characters and discussing real human issues.

I really enjoyed this simple film, it has a lot of heart. both the main character cyd and the aunt were really beautiful characters dealing with life and connection. both those actresses are so charismatic.

"Princess Cyd" is a wonderful film in many ways. I was surprised because my expectations weren't particularly high. As a result, I'm gonna seek out more of writer/director Stephen Cone's films.The story begins with Aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence) attending a lecture about her books, as she'apparently a famous writer. But her dinner afterwards is interrupted by a phone call...her brother-in-law needs a break from his daughter, Cyd (Jessie Pinnick), and asks Miranda to take her in Chicago for a couple weeks. She's happy to and soon Cyd arrives. Cyd seems like a pretty normal teen and it's obvious at first that she thinks Aunt Miranda (who she hardly knows) is a dull lady...just like EVERY adult. But over time they hit it off well and Cyd learns that her aunt is a pretty cool lady...not just because of her books but because she's incredibly chill about Cyd's sexuality. Instead of being scared to discuss sex or Cyd's bisexuality, she's supportive...which is great because soon Cyd meets up with Katie (Malic White) and they fall for each other.I noticed that the other review referred to this as a Lesbian film. Well, perhaps Katie is gay...but what makes it interesting is that Cyd is clearly bisexual...something you rarely hear about in movies. I talked with the director/writer and it turns out he's openly gay and he did seem to have a very female-positive attitude in this film. His female characters were exceptionally well written and I also appreciated how he avoided a mistake some other filmmakers make. There is a rape (or attempted rape) scene in the film and he chose to show very little and mostly imply the attack....and this is great because sometimes these scenes are just too vivid and disturbing. This could either trigger PTSD responses in some viewers OR possibly excite the prurient interest of some sick viewers...so thanks for NOT going there!Overall, the story does an amazing amount without a lot of money or scope. Just a lot of real people acting in ways we can believe...and I really, really loved this film.