Sunday Matinee: Princess of the Row [Film]

“Bouncing around the sometimes-abusive foster care system, a creative 12-year-old girl, Alicia Willis (Tayler Buck), ditches school to visit her military veteran father, Sgt. Beaumont “Bo” Willis (Edi Gathegi). After a battle-induced brain injury during his service in Iraq, Bo is now homeless and living on LA’s skid row suffering from severe PTSD. The injury renders him unable to recognize his own daughter most of the time, but to Alicia it doesn’t matter, because she remembers him as the father he used to be: a caring man with a love of storytelling.

Inheriting her father’s creativity, Alicia loves to write and spends most of her time writing fantasy tales of a Princess on a quest. But when Alicia’s social worker Magdalene (Ana Ortiz), places her in a perfect home with an award-winning writer, John Austin (Martin Sheen), she learns they live 10 hours away. Fearful of never seeing her father again, Alicia escapes the city with her father, on a mission to find a better life where they can be together in peace.” – Millennial PR

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If you are a living human with a pulse that is active, you will know just from the description of a film like this, that if it is done correctly, it is going to be a true work of art by the greatest design. And lucky to us living humans, it was done absolutely perfectly. Seriously Folks, this is not only one of the finest films I have seen in 2019, it is a gem of a film that is one of the best I have seen in a very long time.

The idea that we are seeing an abundance of homelessness being the result of hundreds of thousand of people fighting in two wars at the same time, and being a country that wasn’t ready to handle the trauma that they would feel as a result is absolutely sickening and terrifying. But, films like Princess of the Row are a prime example of a work of art that seeks to bring the discussion to the table. To humanize those who have suffered so much in this manner is truly beautiful and should definitely get the conversation started. Why are we spending so much money to go to war, yet are not prepared to support the troops on the homefront as well? It’s a question that has been asked so many times, yet nobody has a real answer to. The VA is out there, and I personally know people who are committing their lives to helping out our vets, and I truly commend them. But, it obviously isn’t enough. It’s god damn ridiculous, and it’s sickening. And while I truly love Princess of the Row as a film, I truly wish that it wasn’t so possibly true to life. I wish we could watch a film like this and see it in an Orwellian light and had to ask ourselves, “What would it be like if we really treated our veterans this way?”. Unfortunately, we don’t need to ask such a question, because it is currently the truth, and this story could have been truly ripped from real life experiences.

When it comes to performances, Tayler Buck is the clear standout in the matter. She runs the show here as not only the titular character, but as the ringleader of emotions that run throughout the film. Even with the likes of legendary performers like Martin Sheen and Edi Gathegi, who are absolutely brilliant by the way, this young woman steals the show thanks to not only her talents, but for the fact that she was a wonderfully written part done masterfully by director Max Carlson and writer A Shawn Austin.

So, when you find the opportunity, you owe it to yourself to check out this gem of a film that addresses some very serious issues in a responsible and artistic manner. It truly isn’t just the best film of 2019 thus far, it’s easily one of the best films of the last 20 years. I wouldn’t lie to you, Folks!

Princess of the Row is in select theaters now, and currently on the festival circuit. You can check out the film on Wednesday, April 3 at 8:00PM – TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, Hollywood, as part of the Beverly Hills Film Festival.