PalCinema Review: Jazzy

Two inseparable girls contend with a shift in their relationship

February 7, 2025

FILM: JAZZY

DIRECTED BY: MORRISA MALTZ

STARRING: JASMINE SHANGREAUX, SYRIAH FOOL HEAD MEANS, LILY GLADSTONE

RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

The pre-teen years can be one of the most emotionally devastating periods in anyone’s life. It’s that time when what friends say and how they support us can mean everything to our psychological well-being. Families might even be pushed aside. In the case of the two girls in Jazzy, Syriah and Jazzy, it means being almost inseparable. They call each other best friends and at that moment in time it seems that nothing could ever come between them. Of course, change has a way of rearing its head and the girls must reckon with a significant shift in their friendship.

The opening scenes of the film capture the girls at their most bonded. They do things other 12-year-old girls do: try on makeup, play games, enjoy each other’s stuffed animals, and so on. Much of this sequence feels almost improvised with both girls just seemingly have fun with each other. The fact that the young actresses playing them are essentially using their own names suggests an authenticity to their relationship which might feel “stagey” if they were really playing characters unlike themselves. Adults are generally not seen, except for the side of a face or a hand. (It’s not quite the garbled sounds of the adults in Charlie Brown’s world, but close.) For this is the story of Syriah and Jazzy. It is their life and friendship. Whatever is going on with their parents is almost irrelevant to their own personal connection.

Then, in one of the most emotionally devastating scenes in the film, Syriah gets on their school bus and instead of sitting with Jazzy, which we’ve seen her do many times already, she chooses to sit by herself. Jazzy is understandably confused. She calls out to Syriah but is ignored. What could possibly have caused a rift in their friendship? Jazzy wants to understand why but Syriah builds a wall. We might not all be 12-year-old girls, but haven’t we all been there? At one moment in our young lives someone we once considered a great friend suddenly turns away. It’s a sad fact of life at that age. Whether it be due to other friends, peer pressures, or parents’ squabbles thus forbidding certain children from playing together, what once seemed permanent is suddenly broken apart.

Jazzy and Syriah will talk again but will they ever have the same bond they had at this young age? It’s one of the things that works so well about director Morrisa Maltz’s new film. She captures that awkwardness in that time in a young person’s life and the sudden turns relationships can take. When an average looking boy finally admits to Jazzy that all the girlfriends he claims to have had has been a lie, he takes a chance to ask her if she’d like to be his girlfriend. Her reaction is perhaps not far off from what one might expect. Young people that age don’t always know how to respond to such proposals, often leading to hurt feelings.

Jazzy jumps ahead a bit in time when we meet Tana, Jazzy’s aunt. She’s played by Oscar-nominated Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) in a very small role as the only real adult who Jazzy connects with. I suspect that Gladstone’s name as part of the cast and producing team on the film helped to get Jazzy made. (She previous starred in Maltz’s 2022, The Unknown Country.) While it’s nice to see her here this is after all the story of Jazzy and Syriah and clearly Gladstone knows this. They should be at the center of this narrative

Jazzy features several short scenes that reflect the connections between these two girls. As such, it represents a portrait of their young and very real friendship. Anyone who has ever had a friend that has come and gone in their life will be able to relate to the film. It’s sweet and unflinching in the beautiful ways friendships can deeply affect us and remain part of our souls long after the period of heightened connection has passed.

Jazzy opens today in limited release and is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime.

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