Girlfriends (1978)

Claudia Weill’s sort-of coming of age dramedy focuses on Melanie Mayron’s Susan, who struggles to adapt after her roommate and best friend Anne gets married and moves out. It’s a low key but effective affair, Weill makes the most of the small budget she has in turning New York itself into a character. The focal point is Susan, as she battles loneliness and confusion as well as attempting to make a living out of her photography. Only recently released onto the Criterion Collection, Girlfriends is finally getting the wider exposure it deserves. It offers many challenges that will feel familiar, especially to those who have struggled in big cities as youngsters trying to make it. It’s also about figuring out how to be on your own, and how difficult that can be especially when a relationship that you thought would last for life is suddenly severed. In the case of Susan, it gets worse before it gets better; those who she initially thinks might serve as gap fillers in her life only end up hurting her further. It’s a fascinating depiction of single life in New York in the seventies, serving as a reminder that just because you’re following your dream in the big apple, this down and dreary existence is often the reality. But it’s about how you deal and adapt to the situation, and that’s the core of Girlfriends. 7.3/10