Now Showing: Flick

 

Flick

Genre: Romance/Drama

Director: Megan Park

Writer: Sammy-Jo Ellis

Cast: Taylor Russell, Madelyn Cline, Justice Smith

Plot: Felicity (Taylor Russell), known by those closest as Flick, sits almost bothered by the noises at the bar. Obviously not the partying type. Oscar (Justice Smith), her closest friend, confidant, he’s a party animal. Goes hard whenever he can. Oscar can tell she isn’t quite into the crowd, so tries to rev her up. A shot? Maybe two? Flick doesn’t want to but ends up giving in and has a shot, she puts on a fake smile for Oscar, leading him away. Flick’s face begins to glow from the lights of the bar, as she is transfixed on a beautiful smile. She begins to count the years in her head, the last time she talked to Abby (Madelyn Cline). Abby spots her eyes and approaches Flick, Flick begins to walk away, but Abby catches up to her. The same old smile made Flick realise it had been 10 years since they talked. The years weren’t kind, they simply drifted. It hurt Flick more than she’d like to admit. She was the first girl she had a crush on, the one that she realized she liked girls just as much as boys.

Flick greeted with a handshake but Abby went in for a hug. It felt nice to hold her. Abby asks how Flick’s been. Flick smiles, of course, she’s been fine, getting by. She notes how good it is to see Flick again, says that the two of them should catch up over coffee or something. Flick smiles, nods and says that is a good idea. Abby then leaves with a wave and a smile before going back to her own friend group.

Flick drives home, with Oscar who is still dancing in the car, obviously drunk. Flick so wants to tell him what happened but cannot. It’s her, it’s the one. She brings Oscar up the stairs of their small apartment building. She puts Oscar in bed before laying on her own. A big smile grows on her face, ear to ear. A notification appears on her phone. Could it be? A message from Abby? Flick opens it, blushing. Abby sent her a message, “LOVED, seeing you, catch up soon, Thursday 8. Coffee?” LOVED, what did that mean? She puts the phone down before waiting a minute, she then responds, “Love to.”

It’s only a few days later that Flick is meeting with her for coffee at the local café. Flick gets there first, nervous, but excited to spend time with her again. She begins racking her brain, how does she have the same affect on her after all these years. Abby arrives a little late, apologies are given with an excuse about how she struggled to find a park. She orders her own coffee and cake then sits across from Flick. The two catch up with Abby telling Flick about her travels, Asia and Europe. Flick’s admittedly jealous, she’s barely left the town she grew up in. Abby tells her about crossing the Great Wall of China, standing in the middle of Shibuya Crossing, floating down the canals of Venice and seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Flick listens intently to her stories while also imagining herself in those places with her.

Flick becomes so transfixed in the idea of traveling with her that she barely notice Abby asking her about herself. Flick’s story is much shorter, just graduated university, a creative writing qualification to her name, and stuck working a dead-end supermarket job until she can figure out what to do next with her life. Surprisingly, Abby remembers her love for creative writing from school. She seems proud that Flick followed a dream she had all those years ago when they were friends and she seems almost proud of her for being able to follow a dream she had ten years ago. The coffee catch up goes on for what feels like hours. Different waves of people come in and out of the cafe.

Abby pulls her phone out to show some photos she’s had over the past few years. Some photos Flick has seen through her socials. While others seem more personal. And there it is. Photos with a young man. Most of these his hand is around her waist. It gives Flick a sinking feeling in her stomach, seeing her happy with someone else. She didn’t expect to feel this way, she’s allowed to be with whomever she chooses, she shouldn’t have any thoughts on this matter as they haven’t been her friend in ten years. When the young man begins to show up in Abby’s photos though, she almost becomes a little embarrassed and without Flick even asking the question to her, she says that they broke up a year ago while trekking across Europe. He just wasn’t the right fit for her.

Flick decides to end the catch up there. She had promised to cover a shift at work in an hour's time. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking but she almost seems a little disappointed by Flick having to leave. She’s the one to suggest they do something else sometime soon too, which makes her get her hopes up a little more. She says she’ll message Flick later. When she gets home and in the door, there’s already a notification from her.

Flick is at work at the register, her face is still, looking into the distance with a smile. A woman waves her hand in front of her face and snaps her out of her trance. Flick apologises and quickly gets back to work.

Flick and Abby keep messaging back and forth over the next couple of weeks. It almost feels like they’ve become better friends than they were before. Abby tells her about how she's thinking of doing some study, how she's trying to find a job to pay for her work, how her life is now that she's back living with her parents. Flick tells her about how she want so desperately to find a new job, how she’s struggling to find that one great story idea that will get her published like she’s always dreamed of.

Flick start to think she might be falling for her again but worries about falling too deep. For now though, while she denies the feelings that are growing, she’s just happy to be her friend again. She sits down with Oscar and breaks the news to him. He reminds her the toll it took on her last time. She says that it won’t be that way again, it feels different this time, it feels real. Oscar hugs Flick and tells her to tell him earlier next time.

Flick is excited as Abby has invited her out to a bar with a group of friends. She holds up a few outfits for Oscar asking which she should wear. He tells her to follow her gut but that also the green one looks the best. She smiles and hugs him as she gets ready.

Flick isn’t really a drinker but wants to put up with it to be in Abby’s presence. Abby’s group of friends turn out to be a mix of unrecognisable faces and people Flick went to school with, but most of them don’t recognise her. Flick tries to be a wallflower when they all do shots, dance and mess around in the bar but Abby drags her into conversations. She wants to get Flick out of her comfort zone, get to know the people she’s friends with and, most of all, have some fun. Flick does have some fun. She only have a couple of drinks, reminiscences with the people she went to school with (once they remember who she is) and even dances a little with Abby, singing along to the track that plays.

It’s when Flick returns after a trip to the toilet, she sees Abby with the young man from her photos. He’s agitating her, she looks in need of saving. Flick push her way through the crowd and tries her best to get to her side to help her out. When she gets there, Abby is happy to see her. Abby wants to go. She takes hold of Flick’s hand and leads her out.

Abby asks if she can crash at Flicks tonight and she agrees without question. It seems that she just doesn’t want to be alone tonight. Flick orders a rideshare and head to her place. While they wait, they talk, with Abby telling Flick she is the best.

Oscar is asleep and the place is quiet. Flick leads her the bedroom and shuts the door behind her. Abby sits down on the bed and Flick says she’ll find her something to sleep in. After shuffling through her clothes, Flick turns around with a spare pair of pyjamas in hand but she's already asleep, snoring away on the bed. Flick tucks her in and grabs a spare blanket and pillow to sleep on the floor.

The two of them wake up almost simultaneously, Flick offers to make some breakfast, she’s been told she makes a delicious omelette. Abby counters with a suggestion of going to that local café they hung out in a few weeks back and that she’ll pay. Flick briefly disagrees, saying they’ll split the tab but she insists, it’s her repayment for letting her stay over the night.

Flick and Abby head out to eat. They order food and take a seat. The two of them sit in a comfortable silence for a while but it’s clear Abby wants to say something, her fingers are nervously tapping on the table.

Flick goes to speak, asks her if she had fun last night but, at the same, Abby goes to speak too. Abby tells Flick to speak first but Flick insist she speaks first so she does. She thanks Flick for getting her away from the young man, she’s appreciative of her friendship over the past few weeks but remembers how their friendship ten years ago ended.

She’s then apologizing, regretful of how when they and her went onto high school, she found new friends and ignored Flick. She’s always hated how she never kept being her friend so when she saw her that night at the bar, she knew she could try to make up for lost time cause she’s missed her and, from the sounds of it, she’s missed Flick just as much as Flick’s missed her.

Abby tells Flick to say whatever it is she wanted to say but, before she even begins, she is interrupted by a server bringing the breakfast they ordered. Flick hopes the server will stay as long as they can because what she want to say makes her palms sweat and her heart race.

So she speaks and it feels damn good to get things off her chest. She’s scared to see how Abby will react so she looks in every direction other than her face. Flick continues, telling her that she spent everyday walking to school together, wishing to hold her hand. She never felt that way … about anybody. So when Abby stopped talking to her all those years ago, it broke her. It hurt, in a way she had never felt before. Seeing her that day in the bar brought back just a glimpse of that feeling she got when they used to be together as young women and spending time with her just proved it. She liked her. Hell, she loves her. They go silent for a moment, Flick realising what she just said. She thinks on it for a while before doubling down, and finally looking into her eyes, “I love you Abby.”

Abby looks speechless, her mouth is open to talk but words aren’t coming out. Flick’s made things awkward, or so she thinks. As she is about to raise her hand to call the server attention, Abby, grabs her hand, squeezing gently. Abby looks to her with a smile, a smile that could warm the coldest of souls. Flick’s cheeks go rosy as she smiles back.

Felicity, known by those closest as Flick, sits almost bothered by the noises at the bar. Obviously not the partying type. Oscar, her closest friend, confidant, he’s a party animal. Goes hard whenever he can. Oscar can tell she isn’t quite into the crowd, so tries to rev her up. A shot? Maybe two? Flick doesn’t want to but ends up giving in and has a shot, she puts on a fake smile for Oscar, leading him away. Flick’s face begins to glow from the lights of the bar, as she is transfixed on a beautiful smile. The beautiful smile gets closer, Flick too gets closer to the smile. Flick and Abby hug in the middle of everyone. With a kiss on the lips it is sealed, they are together. Oscar comes over with three shots. Flick, Abby and Oscar dance the night away inside that bar.