American Woman

American Woman (2019) stars Sienna Miller in a career defining role as a mother balancing grief and
underemployment after a loved one goes missing. To say this film is a departure from the roles Miller
previously played is the understatement of the year. Typically you would see her as the party girl or love
interest in any of the films she’s been in the last decade. The reason for this is because her previous
vocation was as a model. All of that beauty and confidence is stripped away in this role as a struggling
single grandmother to a slowly aging grandson. It is a powerfully raw performance and she is supported
by some of the best character actors to date in the form of Christina Hendricks and the always
underrated Aaron Paul.

I have never had children and may never fully know what parenting looks like beyond the prism that is
the way my parent’s parented me but where this film succeeds is that you know Miller’s character
Debbie always still has a job to do in raising her grandson no matter how much she fails in life. This film
is raw and honest about life in lower income neighborhoods where education is a luxury not a right.
Debbie struggles to move forward with her life at first upon realizing that her missing teenage child is
not coming home and that she has to step up to be the best example for him possible. Debbie is flawed
and makes mistakes when it comes to her romantic life. Her biggest enemy isn’t the people she
interacts with its herself. She can’t get out of her own way. This is shown in how she acts with her
mother but also with her sister and brother in law. This woman is at her heart a mess but also relateable
in a way that feels both grounded and most importantly honest.

Outside of the romantic entanglements the protagonist finds herself in the other soft focus is the loss of
a relationship between mother and daughter after the daughter’s disappearance. The element that
makes American Woman so unique is the one that’s hardly used and that’s the missing child element. I
love that there is more focus on the aftermath of the tragedy than the incident itself. What’s more
shocking is that the more Miller does to distance herself from what happened to her child the more
ever-present the child and memories of that child becomes. When the mystery of what happened
reaches its inevitable the result is hollow as those cases of missing persons often are. That hollow result
does however provide Debbie with a future to make for herself rather than carrying the loss of her
daughter with her through every situation she finds herself in.

For me, the best characters in this film are Katherine and Terry played by Christina Hendricks and Will
Sasso. Katherine is Debbie’s deeply concerned slightly better emotionally adjusted sister and Terry is
Katherine’s calm yet concerned and watchful husband. I enjoyed these two actors because they felt like
a realistic couple. They had concerns not only for themselves but also obviously for Debbie especially
when she was doing everything in her power to both find her child but also destroy herself in the
process because of the grief. This film is about what you do after grief of that nature and how that
experience changes you in healthy and unhealthy ways. One small note about Aaron Paul’s
performance as Chris his character doesn’t have much personality in him but he made a vast impact on
who Debbie believed she could become and for some romantic relationships that’s all you need.
Sometimes just need someone who believes you can be a better person no matter how long it takes you
to get there.

American Woman is a story of slow growth over time. Sienna Miller played the mess that is Debbie and
her life very well and succeeded in making me remember one basic life principle there’s always a way to
move forward. Many of us I hesitate to say, should follow in Debbie’s example.