If anything, Saint Frances is a movie about family and what that means. The joy and pain that comes with having children or not having children. The connections you make along the way that build a chosen family that isn’t biological. It’s far too simple to reduce Saint Frances to just one of its plot elements.
There’s only a very short amount of time in the film that even directly addresses the topic. It’s because the subject is still just as taboo in the world of the movie as it is in our current reality. Bridget tries to hide her feelings about what happened because a small part of her does feel socially imposed shame.
It’s far too simple to reduce Saint Frances to just one of its plot elements.
Saint Frances is also a film about growing as a person and growing up, no matter your biological age. I found that I very much related to Bridget. I know what it’s like to be directionless in a world that expects you to know exactly what you want out of life by the time you’re eighteen. I think a lot of people do. Kelly O’Sullivan’s script is so grounded in a truth that most movies don’t like to offer. That life is hard and that the answers aren’t always right there and that even after the credits roll, there are things that our characters will still have to figure out.
The script and the film are not without hope, though. If anything, it’s quite the opposite. There’s hope everywhere in the movie. It’s how the characters get through. I believe that everyone, especially women, should check out Saint Frances. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will make you think. That doesn’t happen all that often in the same movie.
"…a small part of her does feel socially imposed shame."
