“Lady Parts” (2024) is an autofiction comedy based on writer Bonnie Gross’ lived experiences. Just as Paige (Valentina Tammaro) finally gets a big writing break after five years in California, she finally finds a doctor who has the key to fix extreme vaginal pain: a vulvar vestibulectomy. The catch: recovery takes a year to recover, and she would have to return to her parents’ home in Pennsylvania. Is she completely off course to achieving her dreams or finally on the right track? The story loses some momentum once she reenters the normal world, but viewers without supportive family should proceed with caution because after the movie, you may be inclined to reflect and be enraged at all your alleged loved ones.
Even if viewers do not suffer from the same ailment, Paige’s plight will be relatable to anyone frustrated with the process of seeking help from the health care industry then patronized with doctors’ already tried solutions. Tammaro plays Paige as behaving in a superficially acceptable manner while her frustration is conveyed in the tightness of her response. Director Nancy Boyd and editor Edith Belmont use the pacing and frequency of the cuts and composition of each shot to convey the smug system that leaves people struggling. Also, most of the scenes with her contemporaries show Paige on the edges of community or crouched to reflect that she is not functioning like everyone else and does not feel like a part of it. Blue dominates the first act presumably to reflect her mood.
If “Lady Parts” has a problem, all the actors deliver their lines in a vaguely sing song manner so even though the situation feels incredibly realistic, the affect keeps viewers at arms’ length and prevents getting lost in the story. It feels like a sitcom, which works in scenes with the doctors, especially the last scene between Paige and Dr. Silverstein (Ben Lepley), but in the heartfelt scenes with her parents, Linda (Amy Lyndon) and Steve (Peter Larney), which are really poignant, it can feel stagey. It feels like the story leans on making them overbearing parents, and it is easy to expect a laugh track to chime in, but the parents just seem earnest, loving and essentially involved. If anything, it feels like they should be shown to everyone considering having a child or who already have one and use this movie as training. They seem impossibly perfect. It is understandable that Paige is mortified over the nature of the situation and annoyed at being rewound to a childlike vulnerable state without her own autonomy but speaking as a Gen Xer latch key kid who liked it, watching this movie was shocking. Is this what care is supposed to look like or is this as unrealistic as any Hollywood action film?
The healing process is not just restricted to the physical, but social and career spheres as Paige’s parents encourage her to resume writing and get enthused over the prospect of Paige finding a potential love interest, Cody (Lars Midthun). If there is a love story, it is between the parents and Paige. Their relationship is the meat of the story as they become integral parts of Paige’s life. From the opening scene, it is initially easy to think that Linda is going to be taken in the opposite direction because she never picks up on the health clues when Paige was thirteen years old. As an adult, Paige never confronts the presumably unintentional dismissal of symptoms. Gross relegates conflict to the health care realm or her ex-boyfriend, Dave (Coby Larinde), but does not stick the landing with the latter even though Paige gets some humiliating revenge. It also feels as if her friends are not great, but the superficiality is just left lying there and perhaps was an unintended impression. It is Gross’ first feature writing credit, and it is a solid start, but it does leave ambiguity whether the lack of conflict or facing issues head on reflects a lack of experience in depicting it on the page or a sign of temperament best left addressed behind closed doors with a therapist.
If “Lady Parts” is a mostly accurate representation of Gross’ life, she will not have to complain about any daddy issues. Out of everyone in the cast, Larney looks like the kind of actor that gets cast in a soap opera as a doctor, not some happily married dad who adores his wife and daughter. Well, a photograph of Gross’ dad is shown during the credits, and it appears that whoever the casting agent was nailed it. Larney looks exactly like Daddy Gross! Also kudos to another example of positive masculinity as a father who does not get weirded out at the prospect of caring for his daughter even when she is undressed. While Steve is not perfect, the list of flaws is far shorter and harmless on screen compared to his positive traits. Fortunately, once she gets home and is reconnected with caring community, her relationships improve though friendship takes a backseat to the romantic ones.
No offense intended to Midthun, but Cody feels like checking boxes of a heroine achieving success in her journey to self-actualization instead of a relationship that could stand on its own if it was more than a plot point in “Lady Parts.” Even though getting invested in that story line is necessary as the graduate level part of recovery from surgery, other than the logistical challenges, it was basic and is the easiest section to zone out during though Cody as an individual felt unique and interesting. Reasonable minds could differ and be completely engaged. That plot point just was not my cup of tea. Perhaps it is the correct tone to strike considering the trajectory of their relationship.
If there were areas that I preferred expansion at the expense of Cody and perhaps shortening other aspects, it would be the reconnection with Paige’s childhood friend, Hannah (Hannah Battersby), which is played for laughs and reduces the deeper moment to an atmospheric shot showing them sitting outdoors and talking. After a handful of scenes with Paige’s trio of friends, Hannah could have provided a counterbalance to show what authentic, deeper friendships looks like for Paige. Similarly, the early office scene was terrific albeit too brief, and it would have been nice to end on the note of her at her dream job.
“Lady Parts” is an incredibly bold, unique, successful and promising start for Gross, and Boyd shows no sign of a sophomore slump in her second directorial feature. Any criticism aside, Tammaro, Lyndon and Larney deserve all the accolades for acting like an intimate, caring family unit as they create scenes that most people do not have in real life with people that they are actually related to: bathing, shaving, carrying, etc. Tammaro put her body on the line for art and work. Their devotion to honoring Gross’ story feels massive and deserves to be held as a paragon to anyone who is considering becoming an actor.
