“If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing” is Unfiltered Teenage Anxiety and Humor
To be a teenager is to be in the throes of some of the most emotional times of one’s life. Whether they want to acknowledge it or not, the silly choices teens make will have ripple effects throughout the rest of their lives. Some decisions are bigger than others, but what’s also distinct about this time is its hard-headed self-assuredness, despite the fact that these kids often don’t know what it is they actually want. Sadie Bones’ directorial debut, If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing, puts a gentle focus on a girl at the edge of adulthood, both desperate and terrified of what’s to come.
Prom night for Sydnie (Aitana Doyle) means galavanting around on the beach with her high school boyfriend, Lucas (Braxton Fannin). They’re enjoying the first tastes of summer as the rest of their lives looms large in the future. As they’re basking in the haze of young, dreamy, puppy love over pancakes at a diner, Lucas states what he thinks is the obvious; they’re not going to be dating come August. He’s going off to college, Sydnie is taking a gap year, so they’re of course going to break up. This, however, is news to Sydnie, who thought they were going to be the high school couple who made it. To make matters worse, about two months later, Sydnie finds out she’s pregnant.
Sydnie is not the first person in the world to believe that having a child will fix everything that’s wrong in her life. In her defense, Sydnie is seventeen, the only age where you could believe this wholeheartedly, and it’s hard to argue with a teenager who believes they’re right. Sydnie’s family, though, argues with her plenty. It’s one of the most charming aspects of the script. The sister dynamic on display in If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing is exceptionally difficult to manufacture. It’s a combination of Bones’ script and the performances from Doyle and Ava Bodnar (as Iris). They shout over each other, tease, poke, prod, and show up when their sister needs them most. There’s an underlying sweetness to the way Iris and Sydnie treat one another, the kind that only exists between siblings, and it’s lovingly on display here.
Bones is not shy about how much of an inspiration Greta Gerwig has been for her work, and the viewer can sense the reverence in nearly every aspect of the film. Sydnie is a spiritual sister to Frances Ha and Lady Bird, rebellious yet insecure, longing for the sort of emotional connection they’ve dreamed about. Daniel (Andrew Michal Fama), the floppy-haired singer who catches Sydnie’s eye, matches the broodiness of Timothée Chalamet’s Kyle of Lady Bird. Beyond characters, the opening scene of Lucas and Sydnie dancing along the beach in such young, lovey dovey bliss mirrors the dancing scenes in Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Little Women. For a film with another filmmaker’s fingerprints so visible, If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing never feels like an attempt at making a Gerwig movie. Instead, it’s a movie made by someone inspired by Gerwig, with similar sensibilities but its own voice.
If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing was conceived as Roe v. Wade was overturned. As much as this is a film about a teenage girl who wants to figure out her life, it’s also about pregnancy and the choices women have to make. Lucas complains that his life has been upended by this pregnancy and Sydnie argues that so has hers and, on top of that, she lives with this heavy, uncomfortable reminder every single day. How do you make a decision about your body when you aren’t even sure what you want? That’s the heart of If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing. An exploration of how the expectations of the world can shape a young person’s decision-making skills and push them down a path they think they should go, rather than the one they actually want to take. If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing is an introduction to Bones’ directorial voice, one that is sharp and funny, with room to grow.
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