Sundance: Marvelous and the Black Hole

Starring: Miya Cech, Rhea Perlman, Leonardo Nam, Kannon, Paulina Lule, Keith Powell, Jonathan Slavin

Director: Kate Tsang

A few years after the sudden death of her mother, teen Sammy (Miya Cech) is still trying to cope. Her sister Patricia (Kannon) has thrown her attention into an online game and her father Angus (Leonardo Lam) has started a new relationship with Marianne (Paulina Lule). After Sammy gets in trouble for vandalizing the bathrooms at school, Angus enrolls her in a summer class and lets her know that if she fails she will be sent to boot camp at Camp Sparrow Cliff. On her first day of class she crosses paths with magician Margot (Rhea Perlman) and becomes the unwilling assistant in her kids show. Although she initially plans to use Margot to help her pass her class, Sammy soon finds she and Margot have a lot in common and she begins to channel all her energy into becoming a magician.

Despite following a familiar path, this was a sweet little crowd-pleaser.

In films like this, you don't really expect them to be as visually pleasing as this was. Writer-Director Kate Tsang incorporates a lot of drawings on screen as well as filming a few beautiful Wushu inspired black and white sequences. It's a beautiful way to incorporate the Asian-American influence that is present in the story as well.

Miya Cech is a revelation in the film. In what seems like a rarity in these type of films, the actress is actually age appropriate for the character and this adds a much needed realness to Sammy's grief, confusion, and frustration. Cech and Rhea Perlman play off each other well and their sassy repartee is a delight. Perlman is very much a supporting character and I would have loved to learn more about her directly. She has a tragic backstory that explains a lot of her magic act and we hear about it from a minor character and not her. It was slightly disappointing as I would have loved to see Perlman's performance for that.

There is one scene that I have to call out because it felt so out of place. It involves Sammy imagining how she would incorporate her father's new girlfriend in her magical act: sawing her in half with a chainsaw. It's unexpectedly graphic, with Sammy ending up covered in blood and when we revisit it later in the film her guts splatter to the ground when she separates the box. The film was quite tame and family friendly up until that point. It caught me very off guard and didn't go with the tone the film had established.

Much like last year's The Half of It, it's refreshing to have a coming of age story set in the Asian-American community. While it follows some familiar story beats, it's hard not to smile through a lot of the film.

Grade: B