In her debut feature premiering at this year’s Tribeca, Lillian T. Mehrel narrates about the relationship between a mother and daughter in Honeyjoon. In the film, June (Ayden Mayeri) and Lela (Amira Casar) travel to Açores in Portugal to celebrate the first anniversary of the family patriarch’s death. In their mourning process, they decide to visit the place where he dreamed of spending vacation with his family, but did not have time. Meanwhile, Lela, an Iranian woman living in the United States, follows and suffers in the aftermath of the women’s protests in her homeland. June is a young woman blossoming in her sexuality and confidence, but has relationship problems with her mother. They need to understand the new family dynamics – now, they only have each other.
The director combines a typical summer passion story with the relationship between June and her tour guide, João (José Condessa), who connects them with the local traditions and spaces. The film serves as a summer travel movie for the understanding of grief and how to move on.The director focuses on the troubled relationship between mother and daughter. Lela judges her daughter’s clothes and considers them too short. Hence, she feels that June should have graduated from medical school, which she dropped out of. There are clashes between them, and they ought to comprehend how to live their lives now. June does not listen to her mother’s criticisms and opinions mutely. She reacts and stands up to the statements she believes are not compatible with reality. June appoints the contradiction in defending the rights of Iranian women to wear what they wish, but judges her daughter for doing the same. It represents a younger generation that is not afraid to confront their parents and their ancient perceptions about the world.
Accordingly, the film takes place in different paradisiacal landscapes. The cinematography by Inés Gowland utilizes the Açores, one of the most visited Portuguese destinations during the European summer. The camera work uses wide lenses to frame the shores of the beaches and the impressive natural beauties of the archipelago. In a particular element, the script almost pinpoints the beaches as a checklist. In this sense, it is a convention of travel movies to traverse most of the location. Gowland‘s work is essential to approaching the different spaces to transmit the emotional states of those characters. There are framings of mother and daughter sleeping together in bed, and Lela invading June’s space. Also, in the tour jeep, Lela sits in the front seat, and the camera captures them as the mother is in control of her daughter’s life. It is a clever decoupage that the camera blocks to demonstrate the emotional barrier between parent and child.
Honeyjoon’s script presents a straightforward and formulaic approach to grief and reuniting loved ones. The Açores island is a direct metaphor for their love, strong as the rocks on the mainland, surrounded by heavy waters. Although the writing is clichéd and underdeveloped, the author rushes the climax to end the story. However, Ayden Mayeri and Amira Casar carry the dramatic elements of the film through their chemistry and the nuanced performance of their characters. They disagree with each other’s perspectives, including on how they should celebrate the date of the father’s death.
Still, they are both women reconnecting with life and how they deal with their emotions and their sexuality. June does not know how to react to her sensual feelings because of the judgment of being an Iranian woman, mainly because of her mother’s creation. Similarly, Lela forgot how to feel pleasure because of the time spent beside her husband’s hospital bed. This dichotomy allows one of the most vigorous montages of the film by June to leave her date with João because she feels overwhelmed, while Lela re-discovers pleasure. They have different reactions to the crushing emotional aspect of grief. It is a devastating moment in the life of an individual when they have to understand how to live their lives again without their loved ones. Mehrel captures that well, even with inconsistencies in the construction of this tale of emotional reconstruction.
Ultimately, Honeyjoon borrows its name from a reference to the Açores as a destination for honeymoons, and Joon means my dear in Farsi. It sums up the film, which is the complete opposite of a honeymoon scenario, but there is deep care and love between mother and daughter. Even though they have multiple disagreements, they only have each other, and the debut of Lillian T. Mehrel is a letter to love our parents and admire the beauty around us.
Honeyjoon recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at the Tribeca site for the title.
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