Kajillionaire (2020)

Director: Miranda July

Genre: Crime, Drama

Runtime: 104 Minutes

Main Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins, Mark Ivanir, Madeleine Coghlan, Steve Park, Challen Cates

Plot: 26-year-old Old Dolio has been raised by her parents to be a small time, petty criminal, helping to pay the rent by stealing packages from the post office and preying on the generosity of the wealthy to get by. In the middle of a lost baggage claim heist, her parents enlist the help of Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), a stranger they met on the plane, in a last ditch attempt to avoid homelessness.

My Thoughts: This is the kind of movie I’ve been waiting all year for. I would happily push all of this years and next years blockbusters into 2022 if it meant getting to watch movies like Kajillionaire. Sadly the cinema industry wouldn’t survive, so for now I’ll watch whatever I can and sit through the Bond trailer in silent rage. Kajillionaire is a heist movie like no other I’ve ever seen. Imagine Ocean’s Eleven was actually a Sundance movie, and that’s what you get. Evan Rachel Wood is completely unrecognizable as Old Dolio, with her over-sized tracksuit and gruff voice.

We’re thrown straight into this family’s life straight away, watching them wait for an opening outside the post office. And you have to think, a family this hard done by must be so close at the very least? But it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Old Dolio and her parents are business partners who split everything 3-ways, they don’t do love, or hugs. And really, that’s all Old Dolio has ever known until Melanie comes into their lives. Melanie is a ray of sunshine in a world of darkness, and the whole family is smitten by her. That’s when things really become strained.

I tried to explain the basics of the movie to my husband when I got home as I usually do, and it was so difficult. Kajillionaire is funny, shocking, and heart warming all at the same time, and my husbands response was, “Is it like that movie you love where Willem Dafoe looks after that Motel near Disney World?” He’s talking about The Florida Project (2017) if you hadn’t worked it out, and he is so right. These kind of movies were made for me.

Best Bit: *SPOILERS* When the gang were at the old gentleman’s home and they made Old Dolio wait in his bedroom for him to die so they can take his chequebook. He’s clearly in pain and waiting to pass and it’s such a tender moment watching her help him through it. To then find out he was still alive was such a funny shock.

Worst Bit: It wasn’t a bad moment in terms of the quality of the movie, but when we find out why her parents even called her Old Dolio is just broke my heart, poor girl never stood a chance.

Fun Trivia: I can’t seem to find anything fun to share with you, but from the looks of it, the movie will be released digitally on Friday 16th October so please give it a watch if you aren’t able or comfortable to go to the cinema!

My Rating: 4 and a half buckets that you’ll need to scoop up those bubbles leaking from the wall every afternoon.