Film Review: Izzy Gets The F**k Out of Town Is A 10 Step Program To Healing

Synopsis: Riot grrrl rocker and shameless hot mess Izzy wakes up hungover AF to find out that her ex-boyfriend is celebrating his engagement to her ex-best friend tonight at a bougie party across town. Enraged and desperate, Izzy embarks on a frenetic quest across Los Angeles to break up the party in order to fulfill what she believes to be her destiny … before it’s too late.

I have to admit I did not like Izzy Gets The F**K Across Town, which is why I liked it. Let me explain. Not every film needs a clear-cut hero or anti-hero. In fact, sometimes, the most surprising impact a film can have is when there is neither. There are just flawed human beings trying to be better or, at least, a little less flawed.

While this film may leave people torn on whether they “like” its protagonist, there is no denying the realism and raw talent of Mackenzie Davis as Izzy herself. She is the heartbeat of this film, and gives Izzy such a mass confusion that you want to say, “Here Here!” Frankly, you could cringe by how much you understand Izzy’s distraught and destructive patterns because she is broke, overworked, and mistreated by a lot of people, especially, herself. The hardest thing to find in your life is your path, but it get harder when you have yourself, which might be why Izzy is obsessed with her ex Roger (played by Alex Russell).

Written and directed by Christian Papierniak, Izzy Gets The F**k Across Town shows how we latch onto people when we cannot find who we are or want to be as persons. Izzy becomes obsessed with her ex and his engagement; completely forgetting that they broke up for reason. As she finds every method to get across town and stop that engagement party, she runs into a list of hilarious characters whom, in an odd way, prove my point. From Haley Joel Osment’s needy Walt to Brandon T. Jackson’s poetic mechanic, Dick, they delude themselves with potential partners/ lovers that they expect will heal their boredom and general confusion over life.

There are three major assets to Izzy Get The F**k Across The Town. The first is the music because Izzy is a “riot girl” by description, which is why punk classic peruses through the film like a narrator. The second is, of course, Mackenzie Davis; whose big blue eyes have the “Elisabeth Moss” impact. Every feeling seems to cross her eyes as she begs for a car or, at least, some compassion from others. Thus, the third asset to this film is how her journey is sort of plotted like a 10 step program.

While the film is divided into 10 bits that show how Izzy gets across town, in reality, it is the 10 steps she takes to realize she needs herself to get herself better. From her sister Virginia, played stoically by Carrie Coon to Alia Shawkat’s scene stealing thief, Angela, Izzy begins to see that it is her choices that made her feel stuck; not others’ choices unto her. Thus, by the time the film reaches its end Izzy find her way but ver surprisingly. I have to say I admire Papierniak’s choices for his protagonist’s arc, and they feel realistic. As human beings, we hurt others as much as we hurt ourselves, which means the path to healing is bound to have a few wounds. Izzy Gets The F**K Across Town Comes Out In LA And NYC Theatres on June 22.