‘Saint Frances’ tackles some taboo material

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been inundated by emails that offer different ways to watch movies online. And just doing the minimal amount of research can give you a number of ways to watch movies both by yourself or in a group.

This story, for example, offers four different ways to host a movie night.

I haven’t tried the group viewing for various reasons, one being that my smart TV doesn’t act — at times — a whole lot smarter than I am (which, in terms of technology at least, is not very).

I have, though, been taking advantage of the Vimeo streaming service being offered in support of the Magic Lantern . And one movie that I watched last night was “Saint Frances.”

Fans of the Spokane International Film Festival should recognize that title. The film was part of the most recent fest, and in fact it won a jury award for Best Narrative Feature .

In short, “Saint Frances” follows the story of Bridget, a 34-year-old woman who seems to be at loose ends. A server at a family-style restaurant, Bridget applies for a job as a nanny, despite having virtually no qualifications. And, because of a screenplay manipulation, she ends up getting it.

But Bridget has a number of problems. She’s under-employed, she’s wandering more or less aimlessly through life, she has a dysfunctional relationship with her parents (her mother, who on the surface appears loving, is a real peach) and, at one point, she says she is “severely depressed.”

Oh, and she declines to use birth control, a factor that leads to a major plot point involving a subject that is mostly taboo in popular film: the question of abortion.

It’s through Bridget’s relationship with the young girl she is hired to watch (which she does, at least at first, haphazardly) and the girl’s two mothers that things begin to change for her. The girl’s name, of course, is Frances (played by Ramona Edith-Williams ).

“Saint Frances,” which was directed by Alex Thompson and was written by the actress who plays Bridget — Kelly O’Sullivan — deserves credit for tackling a number of pressing topics, from the already-mentioned abortion to postpartum depression to non-traditional marriage to a call for compassion and understanding for all member of society.

It just would have been nice had O’Sullivan’s screenplay filled in a bit more of the storyline. What, exactly, is the source of Bridget’s problem, anyway? What happens to the guitar teacher? How is Bridget going to make a living after her nanny job ends?

Those plot holes, though, obviously did not bother the SpIFF jury. Maybe they won’t bother you, either.