Mother’s Day weekend is the perfect release date for the movie Girl in Progress.  The film directed by Patricia Riggen self-consciously takes on the coming of age story from the perspective of a teenage girl (Ansiedad) and her very flawed mother (Grace).  Ansiedad, which means anxiety, is played by newcomer Cierra Ramirez.  Eva Mendes expands her range to portray Grace, Ansiedad’s hard-working, man-chasing mother.

I took my daughter with me to the screening with the idea that we’d write up mother-daughter reviews on the film.  I was warned that the character of Grace is pretty neglectful and this could be a little harsh for my daughter.  At 16, Izzy had no problem with the material.  It generated some good discussion between us about how much supervision and support teenagers need.  How can a single mother who works a lot make sure her kids are safe?

In the movie, Ansiedad gets tired of her mother always being out either at work or on dates.  When she learns about the traditional coming of age story in English class, she decides to stage her own coming of age in order to grow up more quickly and liberate herself from her mother.  With the help of her best friend, Tavita (Raini Rodriguez), Ansiedad maps out the major steps for her coming of age complete with acting out, dissing her best friend, bad grades and sex.

Ansiedad checks milestones off on lists in cute little notebooks and on the big bulletin board in her room.  She maps out each step and her organizational skills will seemingly take her far.  Her goal is clear and Ansiedad keeps to a strict timeline with a bus ticket to get away from her mother firmly in hand.

In the meantime, Grace tries to prove herself at work, tests the loyalty of the married man she’s dating and sort of forgets she has a child.  From there, things start going pretty badly.  Toward the very end of the film, we see Grace trying desperately to catch up with Ansiedad.  She doesn’t want to lose her daughter.

As this scene plays out, there’s a jump from day to night that seems to happen too quickly.  I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening until I spoke with director Patricia Riggen about making Girl in Progress.  We talked about how hard it was to get this film made and what exactly that means.

“It means that you get a limited budget to make the film.  For example, this movie was shot in 22 days, which is a very tight schedule.  And I had a minor so that means very short days.  So that’s a huge challenge, to create a quality movie within the tight circumstances.  I worked really hard.  We made all the music in one week.  We created Eva’s whole costumes in one day. You can only just shoot to survive.  It’s just a miracle that the movie came about and it works and it has a beginning, middle and an end.  And it’s moving for people.”

It’s this jump from day to night that I keep thinking about.  Riggen made this movie under great constraints.  She’s telling a story about the messy, evolving nature of human beings with baggage and flaws.  For Ansiedad, her plan is strategic, but her emotions trip her up along the way.  For Grace, a plan develops once she admits to her emotional life and opens up to the love she has for her daughter.  You can’t help but root for both mother and daughter.

Matthew Modine plays Grace’s less than perfect boyfriend.  He tosses off one of the movie’s best lines—“Love is a more beautiful and complicated thing than you can ever imagine.” In the end, it’s these complications that make the film so enjoyable and relatable.

Girl in Progress opens nationwide on May 11th, just in time for Mother’s Day.