Lynn Shelton is kind of a force. Her work is lumped in with other so-called Mumblecore films, which are defined by microbudgets and largely improvised dialogue. It’s a style that lends a special kind of realism to movies that can’t afford to use expensive tricks or effects to make the artificial exercise of filmmaking appear like life is merely unfolding before the camera. In my view, though, her work soars high above most of the movement’s male-driven stuff, helmed by the Duplass brothers and Joe Swanberg and folks, for whom I also have enormous respect. Mark Duplass is indeed a staple of Shelton’s two big features Humpday and Your Sister’s Sister. Seemingly simple premises, both these films feature small casts and mostly controlled environments, but the drama that ensues in these spaces is somehow completely captivating. She seems to create an atmosphere for her actors to simply excel in this unorthodox style of filmmaking, and these two films hold their own against any small scale dramas. They’re almost like little one-act plays captured on film. It’s fairly specific, and Shelton seems to be the one director who has absolutely mastered this emerging style of cinema.
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