Film Review: Frances Ha

Raw, obscure, and wonderfully humane.

Noah Baumbach has crafted an authentic, delightful, and relatable character study, clearly inspired by French New Wave cinema and films like Annie Hall and Manhattan. According to Baumbach, the decision to shoot the film in black and white was meant to “boil it down to its barest bones,” creating an immediate sense of “history” and “a kind of instant nostalgia.” Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the film with Baumbach, appears in every scene and plays the character of Frances — a carefree, charming, yet deeply flawed individual living in New York.

At some point in our lives, we’ve all been Frances, because life can be so uncertain and ambiguous. We’ve all been confused, broke, awkward, spontaneous, and just… clumsy. We cannot fully know or understand many things in life, and we often steer blindly, unsure of what we truly want. Baumbach’s film reminds us that failures and disappointments are integral to our human experience, and that life often doesn’t go according to plan — and that’s perfectly okay.

As I finish this review, I’ll leave you with a question: Do you think your ability to cope with life’s challenges has been better than what your past had traditionally led you to believe?