I am always happy to see more than a conventional nuclear family up on the big screen, but at TIFF 2023 North Star feels like it is having an identity crisis right from the start. Exploring a family that has lost not one but two fathers serving their country while their mother married a third man many years later could have some very real moments. Instead, North Star resorts to unnecessary nudity, slapstick comedy and awkward over acting, overshadowing any emotion that could have been developed.
We follow a family of four women, Georgina (Emily Beecham), Katherine (Scarlett Johansson), Victoria (Sienna Miller), and their mother, Diana (Kristin Scott Thomas). Three sisters that lead very different lives are home for their mothers third wedding. The big event ends up airing out all of their personal drama and resentment which we as an audience are left to uncover piece by piece. North Star feels like it is trying to surprise viewers with big reveals, like intentionally leaving out that Katherine’s partner Jack (Freida Pinto) is a woman.
“Trying to lighten the mood in North Star really cheapened the experience, disconnecting viewers from anything they could have felt.”
This year’s TIFF has felt so inclusive, but it felt like director Kristin Scott Thomas was aiming for surprise by intentionally leaving out that Katherine was gay. By displaying a conventionally masculine name in unanswered calls and emails, the argument can be made that the goal was to mislead the audience to add to the mystery. It wasn’t necessary, and didn’t really add anything. Characters should be able to be queer without it needing to be a plot point used to misdirect.
The same can be said about North Star’s big mystery. From the beginning we are treated to a seemingly sweet sketching, recreating moments from Katherine’s past. We see interactions between her as a child, her father and eventually her step father, slowly painting a picture of her childhood. There is clearly a part of the picture that is missing, as Katherine gets lost in each of these moments, but once the audience is let in on the secret, it has been built up so much that it ultimately falls flat, feeling like we were building up to a major reveal that felt very underwhelming.
Johansson’s portrayal of Katherine in North Star was the weakest link. Between an accent that felt stuffy, never quite fitting in with the rest of her family, and facial expressions filled with emotions that felt extremely one dimensional, her character felt completely unrelatable. With much of the storyline falling on her character, Johansson’s performance prevented the film from reaching its full potential.
Kristin Scott Thomas both directed, wrote (alongside John Micklethwait) and stars in the film as the mother, Diana. Her performance is perhaps the strongest in the film, but with a story inspired by events in her life, it makes sense that she is closest to the project. She’s the only character I found didn’t pull pages out of an acting handbook, feeling genuine throughout the film. Her directing choices, however, I have gripes with.
The youngest daughter, Georgina, leads a dull life in comparison to her sisters. A wife and mother suspecting her husband of cheating, she is threatened with losing her family, but instead of audiences feeling any real emotions during these scenes, we are met with something more likely to be found in 40 Year Old Virgin rather than a meaningful drama.
Trying to lighten the mood in North Star really cheapened the experience, disconnecting viewers from anything they could have felt. Georgina is often caught sucking her thumb as well which looks meant to be a trauma response. It really just feels uncomfortable, not in an intentional way, and would be better off left out entirely.
“North Star’s difficulty finding a balance between real moments and characters and some need to make us laugh truly prevents it from hitting home the way that it should.”
Sienna Miller is the third sister, Victoria, a Hollywood star banking on her family’s tragedy for clout. Her character feels the most well balanced from a performance perspective, but even here the writing and direction does her a disservice. At one point she is caught naked in bed, which again was used more for shock value and a laugh than adding anything meaningful to the plot.
This doesn’t even consider that we find her teenage son sleeping at the end of her bed while she’s completely naked for no reason at all. There are also moments where complete panic is on display when unnecessary, forcing the audience out of the moment just for the sake of a catalyst that could have been done so many other ways.
I can understand Thomas’ desire to create a film that is balanced in both drama and comedy, but there are more intellectual ways to laugh rather than nudity, sexual extremes and hysterical women. North Star’s difficulty finding a balance between real moments and characters and some need to make us laugh truly prevents it from hitting home the way that it should. Pair that with an underwhelming leading actress and anticlimactic reveals and North Star is a film you can stand to miss at TIFF 2023.
