Movie Review: DISFLUENCY

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: February 2nd, 2025 / 02:45 PM

DISFLUENCY movie poster | ©2025 Buffalo 8

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Libe Barer, Ariela Barer, Chelsea Alden, Dylan Arnold, Travis Tope, Kimiko Singer, Molly Hagan, Ricky Wayne, Diana DeLaCruz, Wayne David Parker, Michael Alan Herman
Writer: Anna Baumgarten
Director: Anna Baumgarten
Distributor: Buffalo 8
Release Date: January 10, 2025 (theatrical), January 24, 2025 (VOD, digital)

DISFLUENCY begins with a college professor (Molly Hagan) giving a lecture on “imperfect speech.” These are words people throw into their conversation, often without even being aware they’re doing so, like “um,” “hmm,” “totally,” and so on.

There’s a behavioral corollary to this that we soon witness. Jane (Libe Barer), one of the professor’s students, suffers a panic attack and fails her final grade. Borderline mortified by this lapse – growing up, she was known to her friends as “Jane the Brain” – Jane returns to her parents’ lakeside home in Michigan to spend the summer.

Dad Louis (Ricky Wayne) is comforting and indulgent, Mom Dorothy (Diana DeLaCruz) is disappointed and disapproving. Big sister Lacey (Ariela Barer, Libe Barer’s real-life sibling) is overjoyed to have Jane in driving distance for a few months, as Lacey lives and works in nearby Detroit.

Jane also reconnects with old pal Amber (Chelsea Alden), now the single mother of an oddly angry two-year-old boy. Former and perhaps present crush Jordan (Dylan Arnold), crass buddy Dylan (Travis Tope) and aspiring influencer Kennedy (Kimiko Singer) are also on hand, variously engaging and annoying Jane.

But through it all, Jane continues to have episodes of disassociation, sometimes unable to leave her room, sometimes zoning out entirely.

DISFLUENCY is less about what happened to Jane as it is her ability to come to terms with the trauma and finally open up to others. Director/writer Anna Baumgarten is quiet and astute, depicting her characters, their barriers and connections in ways that viewers will recognize from life.

So often, this type of drama has people sulking and/or exhibiting cruel streaks. While this is indeed is sometimes the case, Baumgarten takes a more empathetic route. Jane’s internal struggles do not push us away, in part because (again, as is frequently true in the real world), there is much more to Jane than her reaction to a single event.

Jane retains her normal personality, curiosity and compassion. She is able to reach out to others even when she cannot ask for help. Libe Barer gives a fluid, genuine performance. She and Ariela Barer have a convincing sororal bond, and Arnold has a quality that puts us at ease.

The picturesque locations – trees, water, appealing houses – speak to privilege, but they also convey a sense of space, somewhere that allows contemplation.

Integrating another type of fluency into the proceedings, Baumgarten also brings in sign language and has some thought-provoking observations about communication that involves one’s whole body.

DISFLUENCY is a little earnest, but it has a new way of looking at some familiar topics. It is charming, compassionate, and never dull.

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