Observant, quiet and authentic, Lily, the feature film debut of director/co-writer Matt Creed stars his co-writer Amy Grantham as a young artist in the final stages of a treatment for breast cancer. Living with an older man, Aaron (Simon Chaput), Lily’s role in the relationship is unclear, as if she had become a nanny whom the successful Aaron took in as a lover.
Smart and restrained, Creed and Grantham offer up no easy answers, no long blocks of exposition or broad comedy to lighten the mood. Carefully controlled, evoking the observational dramas of Hirokazu Koreeda, Kelly Reichardt, and the brothers Safdie. Set in claustrophobic studio apartments and New York City streets, Lily attempts to rediscover herself through a series of activities that represent an artistic process, including taking up tap dance.
Creed’s lens observes Grantham as she conducts her daily business, hiding behind a wig as she engages in a performance exclusively for the outside world. Alone and amongst friends she feels comfortable without her wig, even if she is not comfortable in the claustrophobia of her apartment.
A unique drama, focusing on essentially the third act of the disease as it edges towards remission, Lily finishes the last of her treatments and, in essence, sets about to make peace with the world before moving onwards to a life that she hopes will see her return to productivity. Her scenes with Aaron, expressing a natural tension loaded with subtext, are tender and powerful as she grapples with the potential to have her life back. A young women who has taken a detour, the film offers no easy answers while allowing us intimate access to her lives. The performances are all quite interesting; Aaron, played by Chaput (a photographer — this is his single acting credit per IMDB) is detached yet caring. As he enters the room he naturally hopes to gain affection, playing with his kids while an annoyed Lily asks him to keep quite as she prepares dinner.
The use of non-performers is key: unlike another recent relationship drama dealing with recovery and set in New York apartments (Take Care), Lily is sincere and authentic, carefully restrained and inspired by Grantham’s own struggle battling cancer. Only in one scene does she break: after a few drinks at one of those dinner parties where she makes fun of a pretentious friend of Aaron’s. Existing uncomfortable in the social circles she’s required to run in with Aaron, the film richly dissects via the personal struggles of Lily a kind of economy to the art scene in New York, as Lily’s channels of creativity have been stifled, temporarily, by her struggles. Lily – both the film and Grantham — engages without manufacturing drama, as well-done personal independent film with something to say should.
Lily is now available on VOD.