KAJILLIONAIRE: FILM REVIEW
I am no stranger to scamming. From making different variations of my email to setting up five reminders on my phone to cancel my free trial, scamming is my way of enjoying the novelties that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Plus, if I’m being completely honest, sometimes cheating the system a bit makes my experience more enjoyable. Thanks to my one-month free trial at ClassPass, I’ve been able to attend silk classes and sweat my ass off at SoulCycle with the bougie white people who actually pay $30 to ride on a stationary bike in a dark room. I think that some of these places are just asking to be scammed. But, compared to the odd trio of a family in Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, I can barely call myself an amateur con-artist.
Kajillionaire takes the art of scamming to a whole new level. For Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) and her parents, Theresa (Debra Winger) and Robert (Richard Jenkins), scamming is a necessity. It’s how the family scrapes by every day, or at least attempts to. Their efforts, while enough to put food on the table, are not enough to pay their $500 rent on time, and it becomes clear very quickly that they are a few months behind. To be fair though, it would be a stretch to call the place their “home,” considering that it’s actually an abandoned office attached to a soap factory. The family’s schemes range from reaching into other people’s P.O. boxes in hopes of finding a worthy package, to using a free plane voucher to falsely claim lost luggage for insurance money.
Not only does their airline scheme bring in a profit of $1,700, but along the way, they also meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), a bubbly young woman who sits next to Theresa and Robert on the plane. While others would shy away from talking to Theresa and Robert, who undoubtedly have eerie personas, Melanie is drawn to their mysterious ways. Without a second thought, she helps them with falsifying lost luggage, and soon enough, starts actively contributing ideas for new heists and how to execute them. For Melanie, Old Dolio and her family present a unique opportunity for adventure. For Old Dolio, Theresa, and Robert, Melanie is a form of rather comforting human connection.
Visually, Kajillionaire puts the viewer in a daze. Whether it’s the strange, bubbly pink soap that occasionally leaks out of their living space, or the dream-like, sun-lit dance that Old Dolio does in one of the last scenes of the film, Kajillionaire feels like one of those cinematic installations at art museums where you enter a dark room. These visual anecdotes are only enhanced by the film’s entrancing soundtrack, composed by Emile Mosseri, who also scored The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Minari. If you listen to Kajillionaire’s soundtrack while on a walk, you’re guaranteed to feel like you’re in a coming of age movie.
However, Kajillionaire is as heartbreaking as it is delightful. At the core of the film is Old Dolio’s struggle with navigating sincere intimacy and love. Despite being Theresa and Robert’s daughter, Old Dolio is treated by her parents like the youngest member of their gang rather than as their child. “I love you,“ “I’m proud of you,“ and hugs are never exchanged. In fact, they’re out of the question. If not for her age, Old Dolio could appropriately be the responsible adult figure of the team, more so than her real parents. It’s not until she meets Melanie, a girl whose life seems to be overflowing with love, that Old Dolio begins to acknowledge the shell-like feeling of emptiness that comes with being unable to cope with affection. The feelings she has for Melanie range from sexual desire to jealousy, and Old Dolio has trouble telling the difference. After all, how can you describe feelings you’ve never let yourself fully experience?
Miranda July’s Kajillionaire is full of pleasant and awkward surprises and is nothing short of a refreshingly original piece of work. When I think back to Kajillionaire, my mind wanders to a story that feels very much like a daydream with nightmarish and cannabis-induced qualities. For some, the film’s takeaway might be new ways to scam our capitalist society, but I think for most, Kajillioinaire will spawn a reflection on the human desire for affection and the feelings of loss that slowly creep up in its absence. While I will no doubt continue to scam free trials from big companies into the near future, even for me, it’s the latter that struck the deepest chord.