Co-writer/director Nicholas Ma’s narrative feature debut, Mabel, opens on a shot of the titular character basking outside in the sunlight. No, not Callie (Lexi Perkel), the protagonist of this beautiful character study about a young girl moving to a new town, struggling to find her place in the world. Mabel is actually a plant that Callie digs up at the start of the film and carries with her throughout. But it’s no ordinary houseplant. She is a Mimosa pudica, unique because of its leaves, which close when touched or shaken as a defense mechanism to avoid taking on damage. Also known as the sensitive plant, it tells us everything we need to know about Callie.
We join Callie and her family as they pack up the car and head from Virginia to upstate New York. Callie’s big outdoor playground transforms into a tiny backyard with neighbors feet away. Variations of different trees, which she can easily name as their car passes, turn into rows of fast casual restaurants. As she begins 6th grade at a new school, she makes an effort to find new friends but never quite connects. That is, until Callie stumbles into a botany class, coming face-to-face with someone as obsessed with plants as she is. It’s the young teacher who opens Callie’s world, sending her on a quest to create experiments with plants at home, igniting her passion more than ever before. As real-world responsibilities and relationships start to get in the way, Callie must find the balance between her everyday life and the hobby she adores.
“As real-world responsibilities and relationships start to get in the way, Callie must find the balance between her everyday life and the hobby she adores.”
Ma and co-writer Joy Goodwin deliver a simple but powerful screenplay, really drilling into the psyche of Callie and her journey towards a better understanding of herself. Both the writing and newcomer Lexi Perkel’s wonderful performance capture the essence of the pre-teen struggle. They nail the fear and humiliation of the vulnerable early days at a new school while also depicting the fury of teen angst. That wrath is punctuated by Ma’s clever sound design choice, emphasizing the stomps of Callie’s feet through the house whenever a bad mood strikes. It’s in the strong development of the central character that the film really shines. We can all see a bit of ourselves in Callie.
The film also excels visually. Ma and cinematographer Mark Jeevaratnam capture nature with the reverence that only Callie could appreciate. The color palette emphasizes the beauty of the greenery, further enhanced by eye-catching macro shots of plant life, bugs, and more. In Mabel, the plant life is just as alive as the characters around it. It lives, it breathes, and it evolves alongside Callie. It’s in the flora and fauna where she learns her most valuable lessons. The world of plants is a safe one for her. When she doesn’t know something, a textbook or YouTube video can teach her. However, interpersonal relationships and making friends are as unpredictable as one of her experiments. But in doing those experiments, she learns that plants must adapt to survive. Callie finds that with a little bit of persistence, she can too.
"…a simple but powerful screenplay..."
