Clementine\u2019s <\/em>troubled woman in question is Karen (Otmara Marrero), a woman in her late 20s who\u2019s recently broken up with an artist, D (Sonia Walger), several years her senior. With nowhere else to go, Karen breaks into D\u2019s swanky lake house to temporarily collect herself. While she\u2019s there, Karen gets mixed up with drifter Lana (Sydney Sweeney), who says she\u2019s 19 but may be younger, and harbors dreams of moving to L.A. to be an actress. Meanwhile, Karen\u2019s receiving creepy calls from D, and being watched closely by her handyman (Will Brittain).<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Lana first visits Karen at D\u2019s lake house, Karen says of her ex\u2019s abstract paintings on the wall, \u201cit\u2019s more about the process than the result.\u201d The same could be said of Clementine<\/em> itself, which is less interested in creating a twisty plot than it is in exploring Karen, and the nature of her relationship with the mostly absent D. Gallagher does this largely through set decoration, showing rather than telling what this relationship was like. The incongruous appearance of landline phones tell us something about D\u2019s age as opposed to Karen, who uses an iPhone. The lake house is full of D\u2019s artwork, though Karen is herself an artist \u2013 there\u2019s clearly not much of a place for her here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are also subtle markers of characters\u2019 personalities sprinkled throughout. When Karen can\u2019t immediately find a key to get into the house, she breaks open the kitchen window, only to find a hide-a-key prominently displayed later. Karen\u2019s issues with acting before thinking become a problem throughout the story. Lana dresses like a worldly young woman, but acts like an innocent, putting the audience and Karen in constant confusion as to who, or what, she really is. The final reveal of that information is subtle, but so well-communicated visually that it still hits like a smack in the face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout Clementine<\/em>, the off-kilter feeling of the setting, the conflict, and the mental state of its main character casts a sense of foreboding that never lets up. It always seems as if something frightening or heartbreaking could happen without warning. It\u2019s an atmosphere that the film probably owes as much to Peter Weir\u2019s Picnic at Hanging Rock<\/em> as it does to its lake movie predecessors; dreamy, withholding, and a little creepy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clementine\u2019s<\/em> languid pacing and love of visual detail don\u2019t equate to lots of action or an abundance of plotting. It is, however, a great movie for a lazy spring afternoon, one that doesn\u2019t require mental gymnastics to track, but is intriguing enough to keep you on the hook throughout. Viewers who love craft will also appreciate the tidy, well-thought way it presents its setting and characters while avoiding exposition-dumping. It\u2019s clear Gallagher knows her stuff, and Clementine<\/em> will hopefully be a stylish launching pad.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/clementine2-1024x427.jpg\")
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