Directed by Michael Morris 
Starring Andrea Riseborough, Owen Teague, Stephen Root, Allison Janney, Marc Maron, and Andre Royo

Having seen and reviewed two films about depression recently, I couldn’t help but realise and think about the striking similarities the common issue dealt with in this film shares with depression. 

Addiction, irrespective of what a person’s addiction might be to, also doesn’t care who or where you are. When the urge is at its peak, addiction is ready to assume full control, rendering the being it possesses often feeling helpless as they succumb to it and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

A rags to riches to rags story, To Leslie chronicles the true story of a West Texas single mother who is battling an alcohol addiction six years after winning big in the lotto. Viewers will likely wonder just how exactly Leslie (Andrea Riseborough) went from a state of extremely fortunate newly acquired wealth to homelessness in just six years. From a mum who wanted to give her and her young son the best life to a life of begging where her son is now nowhere to be seen.

That is one of the attributes I liked most about To Leslie. It has no interest in focusing on that or making any judgements. Rather, it illustrates the existence of underlying addiction when a person is at bottom and how it seizes opportunities and upon vulnerabilities to make its victim hit rock bottom. Perhaps from its empathetic scope, To Leslie can help to remove stigmas associated to addiction and the judgements we make on those who suffer from it.

Before I inadvertently make it sound as though there is nothing uplifting waiting for us in To Leslie, let me also reveal that Leslie is desperately seeking to reconcile with her son (an impressive contribution from Owen Teague) whom she hasn’t seen for six years and is well-aware that can only happen if she can sober up and get her life in some kind of order. This aspect of her existence is also chronicled throughout the film and especially in its third and final act, but I will say I do wish To Leslie’s screenplay had devoted more time than it does to detailing some of the specifics at play here.

While the latter moments of the film under-deliver somewhat, one facet you can bet your bottom dollar towards never under-delivering is the quite extraordinary performance from Andrea Riseborough. Seriously, the first five minutes of the film already had me in awe. When her character is aware of the burden she is to others, the guilt and shame she feels is written all over her face. The shameful acts she commits out of desperation succeeds at arousing frustration from viewers, but not without equal amounts of empathy. Leslie is evidently fearful of having no place to go and knows she is walking a tightrope in any place she is fortunate enough to be temporarily occupying. The hope, stress, and devastation she experiences in these situations, especially during her stay at the home of the begrudgingly welcoming Dutch (Stephen Root) and his flagrantly unwelcoming girlfriend Nancy (Allison Janney, heck, I love her!), is palpable and so effectively demonstrated by Riseborough. Finally, when the catalysts for change and the resulting resistance to her addiction commences an uphill climb towards sobriety and redemption, Andrea Riseborough’s hugely deserved Oscar-nominated ® performance truly reaches deep into the soul.

To Leslie is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from March 9th.

Moviedoc thanks Kismet and Motto Publicity for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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