“People need leaders. And like it or not, you’re the next one in line.”
Rather than feeling like a gimmick or a heavy-handed allegory, Cleo’s relationship with her beard is developed earnestly, while also retaining the ability to be read as a stand-in for whatever the audience might themselves feel about themselves.
Jody Wilson’s feature directorial debut, The Bearded Girl, is a film that’s here to have fun, and it wants audiences to have fun along with it. The film, which was also written by Wilson (from an original story developed by Thiago Gadelha and Blake Barrie), tells the story of Cleo (Anwen O’Driscoll), the latest in a long line of bearded women. Drifting between the circus community where Cleo’s lived all her life and the countryside town that she eventually decides to explore, the film creates a lived-in atmosphere that’ll feel familiar to anyone who’s lived in rural parts of Canada.
And it’s true, the cinematography and overall aesthetic were some of my favourite parts of this film, which perhaps makes sense considering Wilson’s background in VFX. Aside from the setting itself (which has one foot in reality and the other in a kind of historical-fantasy realm when it comes to the circus), the styling is really fun. I knew that this film was speaking my language right from the opening title card, which presented a baby-blue cursive font that immediately made me think of Sofia Coppola. Even the more “violent” visuals were shown in colourful, quirky ways: during a scene where Cleo, in accepting her role as the next bearded girl in her family, must draw blood from her hand, the blood sprays exaggeratedly into the crowd, splattering brightly on the other characters’ faces.
I also really appreciated how the film navigated its central theme of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Rather than feeling like a gimmick or a heavy-handed allegory, Cleo’s relationship with her beard is developed earnestly, while also retaining the ability to be read as a stand-in for whatever the audience might feel insecure about themselves. As Wilson has said, the story is a relatively simple one, showcasing how we push away and come back to ourselves through our lives. Cleo’s struggle to be seen for who she is rather than what she is is both specific in terms of the film’s plot, but also a universal feeling. In the end, she learns that her attempts to hide herself (through the shaving of her beard) can lead to the same places that she wanted to escape from: the people she meets out in the world don’t really see her for more than a “pretty face,” and she’s left to grapple with the simple question of who she wants to be for herself.
In a film where it would be easy for performances to tip into absurd camp-ness (and there is a bit of this, in a good way), the central characters manage to feel fleshed-out and natural, despite the sometimes-bizarre circumstances they encounter. A particular favourite relationship of mine was the one between Cleo and her sister Josephine (Skylar Radzion), who, for better or worse, plays a key role in shaping how Cleo sees both the world and herself. Just like real sisters, their bond is unbreakable yet often fraught, with the two girls having very different ways of navigating their place in the isolated community they grew up. For instance, Josephine has a real sense of spunk and humour that I found myself appreciating during her scenes. In an early scene set during the sisters’ childhood, the young Josephine (Ava Anton) asks their mother (played by Jessica Paré) to define the word “fortnight.” After learning what it means, she simply says, “Why didn’t you just say two weeks?”. Given the film’s relatively short runtime, it’s these little moments that really help to paint a picture of the characters’ personalities.
So whether you can relate to the feeling of looking for yourself (at any age), or you just want to enjoy an original new story, The Bearded Girl is a refreshingly sweet tale to lose yourself in.
The Bearded Girl had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Here’s to hoping that more audiences (Canadian and otherwise) are given the opportunity to check this one out.
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