This story is part of Ravishly's Cinephile Style series spotlighting fashionionable looks in some of our favorite—and often obscure—films. Read more in the series here.
Many people dislike or simply ignore Kathryn Hahn, disregarding her whimsy for a "shtick," but I adore her. Her face, her voice and her ability to be—somehow—simultaneously saccharine and bitter never fails to amaze me. How glad was I then, when somebody decided to pay her talent a tribute with this little piece of indie magic. With a bona fide bonus of the never-boring Juno Temple. You are so welcome.
In the film, Hahn is a funny, lonely and decidedly bored housewife and mom, married to an L.A startup yuppie, spending her days slouching around with much more attractive girlfriends with equally empty lives.
One day in a malaise of ennui Hahn wanders into a strip club where she encounters McKenna (Juno Temple) whom she hires as her live-in nanny.
Of course. Not surprisingly this in-flux of stilletos and sass decidedly blows Hahn polished-yet-dull lifestyle the hell up.
The ambiance: The chichi hood of Silver Lake is where we lay our scene; it's tree-lined streets serve as an oasis of subdued luxury. Private school pick up lines, coffee carts and fine architecture mix in a stylish—if Stepford Wive-y manner—as Hahn's character scrambles to catch a glimpse of sunshine in her otherwise grey routine. Everything is catalogue-perfect, yet cold and uninviting.
The style: Hahn (Rachel) and Temple (McKenna) are polar opposites—in word, deed and aesthetics—and the tension between the two women decidedly makes the film. Rachel is all about skinny jeans, oversized 'boyfriend' t-shirts, plaid galore and occasional pajamas, while her unwashed muse loves pink, hot pants, glitter and heels.
When the two become almost identical—in a wonderful sequence which sends Rachel on a 'job' with McKenna—Rachel's neglect of femininity and sexuality becomes, in retrospective, even more evident. McKenna's classic stripper attire, on the other hand, manages to avoid the cliches and instead accessories a complicated character.
Watch and learn: What's the one thing that helps Rachel 'clean up' her act? That would be false lashes and tons of mascara. The eyes are the window to the soul and all that so get thee some black smudge to frame them!
