‘Dandelion’ Review – From Here To There And Back Again

We are all on the struggle to find our voice, our place in the world, and to pursue our dreams or not. That is the story of Nicole Reigel’s film, Dandelion, which follows a young Black singer-songwriter named Theresa (Kiki Layne), who goes by the stage name Dandelion, and her journey to pursue what matters to her. Theresa performs three nights in a hotel lobby for a few dismissive guests who pay her no attention and often talk over her sets. When she’s not doing that, she takes care of her ailing mother, Jean (Melanie Nicholls-King), who has a much different outlook on the type of life Theresa should be living. When Dandelion gets word of a music festival taking place during a motorcycle rally in South Dakota, she huffs it last minute to steal a spot on the stage. She’s unfortunately not welcomed but meets fellow guitarist Casey (Thomas Doherty) who’s also struggling with his identity as an artist.

The film takes a meditative approach throughout as we move from the bustle of Cincinnati to the amber-glow landscapes of South Dakota. But it’s also here where the film begins to slow to a stop. There’s a little drama that leads to Casey and Dandelion’s meeting, then we’re treated to the heart of the film which is the age-old question of art vs. commerce and which path is more righteous. While Casey’s former bandmates still believe that music is a way of life, he and Dandelion sit firmly on the side of making money with your music is much more ideal. 

In the process, Casey helps Dandelion write a new song, and the two fall madly in love. This is where the film incurs its biggest problem. Despite Layne and Doherty’s best efforts, the relationship between Casey and Dandelion never feels earned. The naive singer in a new town falling into a whirlwind romance with a crestfallen artist is a solid concept but it never fits Layne’s character. Dandelion tries to be a dreamer, but her reality is too impossible to escape. And although she finds that escape in Casey and through his world, she knows it won’t ever actually belong to her. The same is true for Casey as we come to find out in a somewhat subversive twist later in the film. Unfortunately, the romance fizzles out too quickly for it to stick, which wouldn’t be a problem if the love story didn’t take up so much of the film. 

If it’s not that, then it is music. A lot of music. In between majestic landscape shots and artful pans through forests and flowers, there is a ton of music. Most of the characters in the film spend as much time singing as they do speaking. The music is a little half-hearted in that it never reaches its peak, but plays in the middle. Because it doesn’t get to that height, it never feels as integral as it certainly was meant to. Most of it is Dandelion and Casey just trying to create a song. We get bits and pieces, but rarely the full meal, and for as much time is spent on the music, it would help if there were more full servings of it. 

Theresa is trying to find her voice both as a person and as an artist. She is a folk singer, and she’s having a hard time figuring out where she fits in that space. This is an aspect of the film that gets explored but not nearly enough. Throughout the film, whenever we hear Dandelion sing, it’s almost in a whisper. You can tell she lacks confidence and surety in what she is doing. It’s only when the narrative is brought back to Cincinnati that her journey shows some payoff. She gets some nerve behind the microphone and rants at someone disturbing her performance. Although she’s thrown out at her lobby job, she goes viral when someone puts her rant on social media. 

It may seem hopeless, but the final scene of the movie is the ultimate payoff as Dandelion has fully found her voice and demeanor on stage and owns the final number with a full band. It’s the rousing moment that you’ve waited the whole journey for and it satisfies, so much so, that you almost wish there were more moments like it. Dandelion serves its purpose of getting this character from where she was to where she wants to be. It asks the tough questions and surprisingly gives the tough answer. The journey itself may not be the most worthwhile, but you still feel like you’ve gotten somewhere by the end. 

Dandelion is currently playing in theaters courtesy of IFC Films.