I will confess that I was initially alarmed when I discovered that No Choice was written and directed by Nate Hilgartner. No offense to Hilgartner, truly, but the idea of a post-Roe film being written and directed by a male filmmaker felt like a set-up for failure. In a world where women's voices are too often discounted, the topic of women's reproductive rights is, quite honestly, not one where I give a fu** what men think.
The good news is that my trepidation was mostly for naught. Hilgartner is more than up to the task of tackling this difficult subject matter, weaving together a cause film and a psychological, cinematic nightmare centered around Amy (Hannah Deale), an instantly likable young woman working two jobs, supporting her conservative Christian, drug-addicted mother (Jennifer Herzog), and trying desperately to push herself toward college in an effort to move into something resembling a better life.
It's already been revealed that No Choice is a post-Roe film. It's probably not a wild guess to assume that Amy's going to end up pregnant. How that happens and the journey that unfolds after are the main focus of No Choice.
To his credit, Hilgartner isn't interested in our comfort here. No Choice is a bleak film that stays committed to that bleakness throughout a good majority of its 95-minute running time. Fresh off its world premiere in L.A. at Dances With Films, No Choice is a ballsy, courageous, and vulnerable film about a real woman caught in a real nightmare and the world that doesn't seem to give a damn.
There's a tension throughout No Choice that is, quite honestly, rather exhausting both emotionally and physically. Dream sequences are utilized well and amplify that tension in jarring ways.
Hilgartner has cast the film beautifully. Deale is, well, the real deal here. At times, I found myself contemplating the visual palette of Midsommar when I was watching Deale and I was absolutely mesmerized by her naturalism and vulnerability. Deale's is a tremendous performance.
Robert Denzel Edwards is a relative newcomer who doesn't feel like much of a newcomer as Lucas, a co-worker of Amy's who is kinda sorta a BFF who's not a totally reliable one but probably the closest thing Amy has to one. Jennifer Herzog isn't on screen a whole lot, however, when she is she surely shines. There are others, though it's really worth noting that this is a strong ensemble.
No Choice benefits from Jonas Tarm's original score, a score that immerses us in the emotional and physical darkness that feels like it's spreading like an infection here. Oleksander Podolyandchuk's lensing for the film avoids histrionics and avoids anything gratuitous or, dare I say, anything like a male gaze.
And that's what it really comes down to for me. I've seen even the strongest allies drop the ball when it comes to tackling a film like No Choice. Hilgartner tells a story that benefits from his perspective while also trusting his characters to tell their own stories. It's a difficult approach that works quite nicely.
No Choice isn't a fun film to watch. No Choice is, however, a necessary film to watch and it's a reminder of just how much a talented filmmaker, even in the world of indie horror, can tell a meaningful story, scare the crap out of us, and maybe even change the world a bit.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
