3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Lou

2022, Anna Foerster (lots of TV including Westworld) -- Netflix

This is how you do a Women with Guns movie about being a mother, exploring both the familial bond and the lack thereof that comes with being a violent sociopath. As opposed to, the other. 

But apparently, the New Hot Place for assassin women to hide is Alaska. Also, retro timelines are FUN! Ok ok, I start off with the snark, but to be honest, I rather enjoyed this one, and maybe it will be a jumping off point for Allison Janney's aging action star career? Can't let Neeson have all the fun. OK, enough snark.

Again, Alaska, the 80s. Lou (Janney, Mom) lives in the woods with her dog Jax. Her next door neighbour, and tenant, Hannah (Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country) is a single mom of daughter Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman, Shattered). Lou is a cranky old lady, constantly harassing struggling Hannah. It doesn't help, as Hannah is still dealing with the abuse from her ex-husband, a man she assumes is now dead. Buuuuut...

Big storm coming, and Lou is making preparations.... well, not for the storm, but her own ending. Obviously she has a past she hasn't quite escaped from, much like Hannah. The storm, or ... someone, cuts the power to Hannah's place, and while she is outside, takes Vee. In desperation, she runs to Lou's place, interrupting a shotgun in the mouth. Instead of explaining, Lou immediately kicks into action, and the two go off into the woods to track the kidnapper, who must be Hannah's ex, despite her being told of his death.

Spoilers?

Surprisingly, as in I was actually surprised by it, things are not as they seem. Lou's past is CIA and that is one thing, but she is also tied to Hannah in ways the young woman could not be aware of. As the two trek through the woods, that Lou is a badass becomes very apparent, but also the details of their connection trickles out. You see, while Lou was in Iran doing Reagan era CIA things (Google it) she became pregnant. To retain her cover, she kept the boy, but motherhood never really... took. So, Phillip grew up... wrong. Lou knows she was responsible so she turned him in, and he instead faked his death. But Lou protected her daughter-in-law and granddaughter secretly, until... well, all this came about.

This is a by-the-numbers thriller but Janney is just steely! That only she, and her character, could have been in a better movie, as despite me enjoying it, I know there was a better... movie there, if only it had the guts to pursue something other than a simple pursuit and revenge movie.