Even from a modern perspective, women are having to fight for the equality that they should be entitled to by virtue of the fact that they are human beings. It is a sad state of affairs that the revoking of basic inalienable rights for women has become something to be expected rather than a shocking act of cowardice from the patriarchal powers that be. Many things are decidedly better than they were in the past, but it is this past that we must do our best to remember where we will not make the same mistakes. This is the aim of the feature debut Women Is Losers from writer and director Lissette Feliciano. Women of color have often had their stories overlooked and pushed off to the side, but Feliciano is taking inspiration from women she has known and others to tell an important story of perseverance and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” in a way that seldom gets a spotlight.
While the film appears to begin with the typical “spurned wife confronts her cheating husband” trope, it takes an extremely meta left turn that attempts to frame the entire story. The actors take a moment to jump out of character and address the camera to give some historical context as well as apologize for any technical aspects that they ask the audience to overlook due to budget limitations, such as inconsistent lighting and inaccurate set dressings. It is a bold and jarring way to begin a film, and it works in this instance, but further attempts to employ this style are more inconsistent.
The story properly begins with a flashback to 1967 where high school students Celina (Lorenza Izzo, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) and Marty (Chrissie Fit, Pitch Perfect series) are dreaming of the lives they have ahead of them. Celina is a math prodigy with a “good head on her shoulders” who wants to be an architect, while Marty longs to travel the world as a pilot. These are big dreams for women in a time when such dreams were considered unlikely. As is often the case, there are men in their lives who happen to be around to diminish their light in one way or another. For Celina this is Mateo (Bryan Craig), a soldier who was recently made to return home due to an injury sustained during combat. While not an outright horrible person, Mateo acts in the way that men often do and convinces Celina to forego her plan to wait on physical intimacy. An unexpected pregnancy for both of these young women creates even greater obstacles to their future potential in more ways than one.
Becoming a young mother is only one of the hardships that Celina must face including an abusive, alcoholic father who has a penchant for knocking his daughter down at the exact moment when she needs help the most. Her mother is not much help on this front as a someone of little power herself. She is often forced to be unkind to her daughter for the sake of her marriage, only showing her support for her child in small ways such as leaving food for her after sneaking out for a night of fun.
A time jump a few years in the future finds Celina struggling to make ends meet without an education. Her one big break comes in the form of a promotion from her seemingly kind boss Gilbert (Simu Liu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). This opportunity not only comes with an increase in pay, but with the added bonus of financial planning assistance from Gilbert which allows Celina to really start planning for her future. While Gilbert is an invaluable help to our young protagonist, he may not be altogether different from the other men in her life which the film explores to heartbreaking effect. The film seems to underline the point that women can not rely on men to make their lives better. While a seemingly no-nonsense coworker named Minerva (Liza Weil, Gilmore Girls) is first positioned as an adversary for Celina, their nuanced relationship ends up being one of the most enriching of the entire film.
For all of the apologizing at the top of the film about the potential aesthetic inconsistencies that could plague the film, Women Is Losers is visually a slick and gorgeous film. Despite its origins as a low-budget indie production, the movie feels like a glossy Hollywood picture, for better or for worse. The performers in the ensemble are all giving fairly strong performances, especially the women, but the screenplay keeps them from achieving greatness. Lorenza Izzo does continue to make a strong case for why she should be featured in more projects moving forward, as her charisma is a key reason for why this film succeeds as much as it does.
While Women Is Losers is trying to honor some important stories, the film can unfortunately feel a bit disjointed and heavy-handed at times. As previously noted, the addresses to the camera often reveal some interesting historical tidbits, but they just as often feel awkwardly placed and slow down the momentum of the film. A detour with Gilbert in which he discusses the Chinese Exclusion Act could not feel more relevant, but also feels like a case of one film trying to accomplish too many things at once. This type of interjection flows more naturally in a subtle aside such as a reference to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that prevented denying women loans without the help of a man. The film often feels like it is marking off a checklist of topics it feels it needs to discuss without saying anything noteworthy about a large portion of them.
By the time you reach the rousing finale, you will feel as if you have learned a little about a great many things. Women Is Losers is attempting to tell stories that deserve a bigger moment in the limelight, but the execution does not quite line up with the ambition. If the story could have been a little more focused and offered more depth to the storytelling, it may have offered the thoughtful examination of these women that we deserve. As it stands, the film is a decent, beautifully-shot crowd pleaser that is bolstered by a vibrant lead performance.
Women Is Losers had its World Premiere in the Narrative Feature Competition section of SXSW Online 2021.
Director: Lissette Feliciano
Writer: Lissette Feliciano
Rated: NR
Runtime: 84m
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
