One of the most ever-present questions about human nature is that of nature vs nurture. How much of who we are is innate to our beings and how much is pushed out of us by those that teach, parent and nurture us? Nobody knows for sure but at the very least teachers and others in authority can have power to draw us to different choices and convince us to go against our nature. This power has been explored in many films most recently in the Oscar winning film Whiplash. Now director Sophia Takal has taken Whiplash into the world of acting in her tight little thriller Act One.
Instead of drumming, in Act One we have acting as our talent of choice and young Hannah dreams of becoming a great actress. She wants to be a serious actress, and her mother is less than supportive of what she see’s as a silly career choice. Instead Hannah turns to an acting coach named Melanie who takes method acting to a whole new level. Melanie’s teaching is especially manipulative because she can defend anything as the cost of getting into character. Anyone who doesn’t participate fully is not as committed to the roles and the transformative experience of becoming a character. Of course this is a ridiculous reason to participate in toxic even criminal behavior but then again Hannah is young and inexperienced (even more so than Andrew in Whiplash who was at least in college.)
The main strength of this film is in Takal’s script. We can all relate to the draw of perfecting ones art and the intoxicating appeal of just the right kind of praise. Controlling people often know what to say to get insecure people to make one small step down the road of dedication to their cult. This is made even more powerful when fellow drama class member becomes Hannah’s sexual partner and Melanie uses that vulnerability to gain more power over her students.
Oddly enough in a movie about acting the performances in Act One are probably the weakest aspect. Ella Beatty plays Hannah and she captures the mousy nature of the character but Ari Graynor was less convincing as Melanie. The rest of the performances are more amateur in feel but as the movie is about amateur actors I suppose it fits well enough.
Still, like I said, the script is where this film shines as I was enthralled to see what was going to happen to Hannah next and if she would get out of this maddening spiral. Act One is playing June 10, 12, 13th at the festival and worthy of your time.
