Fresh Kills, 2024.

Written and Directed by Jennifer Esposito.
Starring Emily Bader, Odessa A’zion, Jennifer Esposito, Domenick Lombardozzi, Annabella Sciorra, Nicholas Cirillo, Ava DeMary, Stelio Savante, Franco Maicas, David Iacono, Anastasia Veronica Lee, Taylor Madeline Hand, Maya Moravec, Nicole Ehinger, Luciana VanDette, Amanda Corday, Annie Pisapia, Camryn Adele Portagallo, Colleen Kelly, Beatrice Pelliccia, Charlie Reina, and Bettina Skye.

SYNOPSIS:

Follows the story of the loyal women of an organized crime family that dominated some of the boroughs of New York City in the late 20th century.

A film for anyone who wonders about the specifics of what goes on in the lives of the mothers, daughters, and granddaughters part of a mobster family household, writer/director/producer/star Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills, for all its clunky pacing and overreaching ambition, is fresh and packs a cumulative punch about this inescapable lifestyle.

Spanning several points in time across the 1980s and 1990s while primarily fixated on tightknit sisters Rose and Connie, Fresh Kills homes in on how these girls, especially as they grow up, couldn’t be any more different from one another, especially when it comes to the privilege of wealth and the expectations of being born into a family dynamic where the women stay at home while the men are involved in the Staten Island Mafia.

Played by Anastasia Veronica Lee and Taylor Madeline Hand as young girls before turning things over to Emily Bader and Odessa A’zion upon growing up, the former, Rose, is the quiet one (you would be forgiven if you assumed she was mute during the first 15 minutes or so) whereas Connie is upbeat and playful. Connie is seen encouraging Rose to “fly” by spreading apart her hands while being boosted on top of her knees. It’s a silly game they play in front of their new home, still innocent of what their father, Joe Larusso (Domenick Lombardozzi), does for a living. Moments later, an unnerving dialogue exchange is overheard in the garage, somewhat clueing them int to different extents. Little do the girls know, it seems no women born into this type of toxic family dynamic truly get to fly, at least independently.

Then there is the matriarch Francine (Jennifer Esposito), aware and horrified by much of her husband’s actions. At one point, in hysterics, she exclaims that she needs to get away. Yet, much like Connie when she ages, she sticks up for this spoiled lifestyle, whether from fashion, a spacious home or simply being blessed with a healthy family. Once upon a time, she did dream of being something more, apparently approached to get into modeling, yet instead ended up around the arm of Joe. Naturally, Connie becomes her favorite since she is the one to embrace and carry on the more traditional roles, whereas Rose finds herself talked down to over having goals beyond marriage and motherhood.

There is the instinct to label Francine a bad mother for trying to enforce such a status quo, and even the screenplay from Jennifer Esposito never fully gets around fleshing out all of the multidimensional characters; she comes across as a complex figure. She is someone who gave up on her dreams and has not chosen to actively go against a daughter trying to make something of herself (Rose is interested in beauty just like her mother was) and escapes something that she knows has been dysfunctional, hostile, unhealthy, and traumatic for quite some time.

The performances from Emily Bader and Odessa A’zion are also rich, going beyond playing two characters gradually transitioning into opposites. Connie is played with such tornado-like ferocity, preaching family first and asserting that she has made the right choice in getting married and having a child, one suspects that she is trying to convince herself just as much as she is verbally tearing her sister down. Meanwhile, Rose gradually tries to come out of her shell and embark on a different path, but at every turn, she is devastatingly and tragically reminded of what she has been born into and might never escape. Naturally, Domenick Lombardozzi is wisely kept off to the side (this is not a mobster movie about the crimes themselves), but is also part of an emotional scene with Rose that ends on such a powerful note you can’t help but pity him. It’s a vicious, towering toxic masculinity takedown.

As mentioned, the pacing in Fresh Kills is sometimes off, with jumps forward in time frustratingly undercutting other developing character dynamics. One also wishes Jennifer Esposito felt more confident as a filmmaker, doing away with unnecessary needle-drops to heighten the importance of certain moments. However, she does find cohesive, full-throttle momentum for her passion project in its third act, which is riveting, heartbreaking, and empowering, retroactively shading in more depth to what comes before.  

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

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