Yelling to the Sky

A Hard-Hitting Coming-Of-Age Story That Leaves Some Of Its Most Compelling Characters Relatively Unexplored
There is a rawness to the film "Yelling To The Sky" that is likely to evoke strong reactions with most viewers. At times humorous, at times brutal, this coming-of-age story from writer/director Victoria Mahoney has a palpable anger underneath its surface that really sets it apart from many comparable films. While I don't know enough about Mahoney to label this autobiographical in nature, there is a certain intimacy and truthfulness that make it feel like a cathartic self-examination of a life lived. While I appreciated this spirit, however, the overall experience ended up having less impact for me than individual components of the film. For my taste, some of the characterizations lacked definition. A drama about race, abuse, violence, and family dysfunction, "Yelling To The Sky" can be unrepentantly bleak. And as the central character spiraled out of control, I found myself as an outsider looking in on (and sometimes not believing) the harrowing circumstances before her...

THE EQUATION ISN'T ALWAYS THE ANSWER
Sweetness (Zo