This shot-on-digital-video film, that I saw on the IFC's DV Theater the other night, is hugely impressive, with some exceptional acting from a cast of actors that I had never heard of before.
The story, about a single mother & her teenage daughter, and their struggles with being homeless, has been done before, and the film is similar to the Hollywood *blockbuster* "Anywhere But Here" in many ways, but Jessica White & Sara Wilcox, as "Tessa" and her Mom "Christine" offer up performances that are so real and immediate (the fact that this is shot on video gives the film a chillingly real & voyeuristic feel) that any memory of the "Hollywood" version is wiped out right away.
Jessica White, in particular, is very effective as "Tessa" the young girl who really can't imagine why her world is being turned upside down, and why her Mom is "ruining" everything for her, as she enters her trying teenage years, with all of the angst that they bring.
Peter Hyoguchi, the writer/director, who was himself raised by his mother in Santa Barbara, the affluent city where the film was shot, is to be commended for not being afraid to show how the American Dream can become a nightmare for people in an instant, and how easy it is to become homeless, even in a rich area like Santa Barbara.
"First, Last and Deposit" has been featured at many film festivals, but I expect that it will air on IFC again, and I highly recommend it.
It's heartbreakingly, achingly real, and a true work of art.
