Review of Showing Up, directed by Kelly Reichardt

If you’re a more dedicated reader of the book and movie portions of my blog, you’re probably going to notice that I kind of have a secret love for entertainment stemming from the art school experience. As someone who went to art schools (but not for visual arts) for so many years, it continues to fascinate me to this day.

That said, I first saw Showing Up at the New York Film Festival in 2022. It was my first time attending a film festival as an accredited critic, as I was working with MovieWeb at the time. I was so grateful for such experiences at only 22 years old.

I wrote a review for this film when I was there at NYFF, but I was thinking about it recently. I was scrolling through my Kanopy endlessly when I saw that it was an option on there, kind of shrugged my shoulders, and decided to watch it before I lost that thought.

And that was how I saw this film twice! I think I appreciated it more on the second watch, if we’re going to be honest.

Let’s get into the review.

Lizzy tries to find herself not only as a person, but an artist as well.

The plot in this film is pretty straightforward. I have a tendency to describe this movie as something that’s about the emotional and spiritual journey, which is why it might not be someone else’s favorite movie if they’re not into this kind of genre.

Our main character is Lizzy, who is a sculptor. She also works as an admin assistant at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, where she went to school, and partially because her mother works there. Outside of work, Lizzy is preparing for her first solo show, as she’s been working on a series of sculptures depicting women in certain emotional landscapes.

But Lizzy’s landlord, Jo, is someone who doesn’t help her creative process. Lizzy compares herself to Jo, who is a somewhat successful artist on the outside, and Jo is also her landlord. So far, Jo hasn’t done anything about her hot water heater not working, but Lizzy is getting annoyed when she sees Jo doing many other things.

Time is ticking away for the solo show, so Lizzy takes off work one day to try and finish them. In the middle of the night, a pigeon flies into her house, and her cat tries to kill it. Lizzy dumps it outside, but then Jo discovers it, takes the bird to the vet, then gives Lizzy it to take care of while she works.

While Lizzy is very angry at first this happens, she bonds with the bird. She takes it to the vet, and has to pay almost $200 to get it checked out. When Jo finally returns, Lizzy’s resentment comes back and she informs Jo that the bird kept her from going and doing her own artwork.

After this, Lizzy goes to visit her father, who she has a precarious relationship with. He allows hippies to come into his home, and she does not trust him. But during this visit, she also learns no one has checked in with her mentally ill brother Sam. She then heads to visit Sam, who seems a little more delusional than usual.

Their mother thinks he’s okay though, so nothing is done. One of Lizzy’s pieces burns in the kiln, making things harder for Lizzy. Sean also starts digging a hole in his backyard, as he now hears voices. Lizzy enlists the help of her mother to watch him while she gets the solo show ready.

Opening day arrives, and Sean does not show up at first. Lizzy worries about him, but, when the show opens and people trickle in, her family wanders in with many other people, including Jo. The pigeon is even there, but Sean lets it go, and everyone watches as it flies to freedom.

Jo and Lizzy go out to look for it, but they come to an agreement that it was time to let it all go.

Overall Thoughts

Like I mentioned before, I think this is a movie you need to appreciate for the journey. For some people, it’s really hard to show up, and Lizzy struggles with so many aspects of her life before finally getting her moment to shine.

I also think this is such a great movie to think about how artists see themselves sometimes. It’s refreshing to see art outside of New York City depicted, and the little successes sometimes include just having anyone come to your little showing at a local gallery.

This is such a valuable little film. I think everyone pursuing a creative lifestyle should watch it at least once.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.