Sherren Lee’s Debut Floats On, OK
Float (2023)
Directed by Sherren Lee
Starring Andrea Bang, Robbie Amell and Sarah Desjardins
As seen at the 42nd Annual Vancouver International Film Festival
Watching a film outside of my favorite genres can be a refreshing change, especially at a film festival where most people, including myself, tend to focus on Drama, Suspense, and Thriller categories. That’s where Float comes into play. Float is a pure Romance film; it doesn’t have the wit of a Romantic Comedy or the suspenseful elements with a touch of romance. Instead, it’s a straightforward romance film.
Movies like Float are typically associated with channels like Lifetime or, more recently, Netflix streaming. Therefore, witnessing such a film at a prestigious international film festival was a treat. The theater was surprisingly crowded, located in one of the Cineplex International theaters in downtown Vancouver. My wife and I held hands, and as the opening scenes unfolded on the expansive screen, I was struck by the cinematography, which showcased the beauty of a British Columbia island, this time in anamorphic widescreen. (It’s worth noting that a surprisingly large number of visually stunning films I’ve seen at VIFF have been presented in a more constrained aspect ratio.)
As soon as the dialogue started, I sensed my wife rolling her eyes in the seat next to me, and truth be told, I had a similar initial reaction. However, I reminded myself that this film portrays individuals falling in love in their late twenties, and perhaps, after 22 years of marriage, such a storyline might feel foreign to us. Nonetheless, I focused on the unfolding narrative.
Waverly, a city girl (yes, her name is really Waverly), decides to pay a visit to her aunt, whom she hasn’t seen since childhood. She finds herself at a crossroads in her life, and the events of the next few days will shape her future. One path involves continuing to let her parents, who live in Tia Pei while she attended boarding school and college in Chicago, dictate the parameters of her life from afar. The other path becomes increasingly clear when she encounters a beach community of friends, as her aunt puts it, “I realized there is Biological Family and Logical Family.” This group of characters who enter Waverly’s life is diverse and intriguing, though at times, it may feel like they were chosen to check “inclusion boxes.”
The story’s focus shifts towards romance when the second act commences, as Blake, a local lifeguard, pledges to teach Waverly how to swim. The intimate nature of their one-on-one swimming lessons leads to a different kind of connection. By the time conflicts arise in the third act, I found myself rooting for this love connection to endure beyond what one character describes as “a summer fling.”
Float isn’t quite high melodrama in the style of Douglas Sirk or Pedro Almodovar, but it makes a commendable effort to capture the romantic essence of bygone eras while infusing modern sensibilities. The cinematography serves as a love letter to the Pacific Northwest, and the editing creates a cinematic feel with well-paced transitions that set it apart from typical Lifetime channel or direct-to-streaming romance films. In her debut feature-length film, Sherren Lee skillfully balances the voices of twenty-somethings while crafting a genuine cinematic experience that showcases the breathtaking beauty of a region that could easily contend as one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
Love romance? I recommend Float when it comes to a cinema near…or inevitably gets picked up by Netflix.
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