(2010) A mopey, dopey indie movie by director/writer Lena Dunham, taking the lead role as Aura, a chunky 22-year-old graduate returning from college in Ohio (where she studied film theory) to her mother's home in New York City; the cast includes her actual mother Laurie Simmons as Siri, a successful photo artist, and sister Grace Dunham as 17-year-old Nadine. Siri photographs daughter Nadine, surrounded by miniature pieces of furniture as props.

Wandering around the house without pants with a sense of entitlement to food and convenience, in a funk over the breakup from her college boyfriend, Aura discovers and reads from her mother's diary written during the '70s. At Ashlynn's party she's introduced to Jed (Alex Karpovsky) from Chicago, who creates comedy videos popular on YouTube, trying to land a deal with HBO.

While Siri and Nadine are away for a week, Aura invites Jed, who's broke, to crash at her place, though he prefers sleeping in a different bed than hers. He's a "loafer," according to Charlotte (Jemima Kirke), her posh, sophisticate friend; her mother wants him to leave the house: "You are not even having sex with that person."

In need of a job before her college girlfriend Frankie arrives, with whom she plans to share an apartment, Aura ("I have no idea what I'm qualified for") takes up Charlotte's recommendation of applying for the position as day hostess at the Clandestino restaurant close to her home where she meets Keith (David Call) the chef. A prisoner to his job and a possessive girlfriend, Keith, who's into prescription drugs (e.g. Vicodin) and Japanese porn ("tentacle rape"), goes out with Aura after earlier standing her up.

No mention is made of the girls' father, only their mother's long-ago former boyfriends. Sometimes sleeping in the same bed with her mother, Aura overshares about everything.

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Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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