Nancy (2018) User Reviews (41)

Better the next morning.

[mmentges-1 · 7/10 · 30 November 2018]

We watched this movie on DVD last evening and both my husband and I disliked it and gave it a 2. But the next morning I was still thinking about it, and decided it was a very good film deserving a much better rating. Any film, like any work of art, is subject to interpretation - (people are still trying to decide what the Mona Lisa is smiling about), and my interpretation is based on my experience and world events.

Two days before watching the movie, an item was in the press that the suicide rate and drug deaths in the USA continue to rise - especially in rural areas. Large cities have continued to prosper, but small towns (like the one depicted in this film) have continued to stagnate and offer few opportunities. Nancy is one of the victims, it seems, of a small town, a dependent mother, and a life lived out on the internet and blogs. She obviously photo-shopped pictures of a trip to North Korea to impress co-workers, and fakes a pregnancy for her blog. The one time she actually smiles in the film is when she is texting.

Although the film is not really about living ones life on a smart phone and the internet, one can see how Nancy is caught up in the media, and is actually convinced she is the kidnapped daughter of a couple she sees on TV.

The end of the movie is not unexpected, as she drives away from what might be a fulfilling relationship with a new family, because she really can't seem to communicate with real people and real situations for the long-term. We imagine Nancy going back to her desperate life and creating yet another fantasy. Sad, but very real for so many people these days - 500 Facebook friends and no one to talk with.

Great understated acting, and nice quiet direction - nothing to hit you over the head, but enough to make you think!

solid debut

[kevin c · 6/10 · 26 January 2019]

Interesting debut with strong performances and a compelling tale.

This could have gone down a darker, criminal route but wisely doesn't. It stays downbeat, and oddly touching.

Character Study

[agm-78108 · 7/10 · 13 January 2022]

Labeling this as a mystery/thriller is a disservice to the film as many of the negative reviews are from people who would never watch this type of film. This is more of a character study and it's pretty well done.

I've seen a lot of comments that this film is 'misery porn' or too depressing; unfortunately not everyone lives a life full of sunshine and roses. I appreciate when a film can realistically explore other stories.

Nancy is obviously a young woman with many issues, not the least of which is her propensity for lying. She craves a life that is more exciting or fulfilling than the one she leads. She invents experiences for herself and passes them off as reality, even going so far as to photoshop photos or wear a fake pregnancy belly. When she sees a news program about a kidnapping 30 years prior she decides to pass herself off as the missing child.

I was engrossed in Nancy's story from the very beginning. As appalling as I found her actions, I couldn't help but feel compassion for her and wonder what her earlier life had been. I enjoy films that don't end in a neat little bow and leave you thinking about the story later. This is definitely such a film.

This is a good character study/drama. If you enjoy this type of film, watch it and decide what you think. If you only enjoy happy films or movies that spoon feed you the whole story, I suggest you skip this one.

Strange Little Film

[iquine · 7/10 · 9 February 2019]

(Flash Review)

Having a your child go missing is bad but also being a child who effectively has missing parents can be bad as well. After 30 years a couple who lost their 6 year old is contacted by a young woman who thinks she may be their missing child after seeing a future-aged photo on the news. They meet up and the mother tries to figure out if it really is her daughter through emotions while the father seeks hard evidence through logic. Both sides are so desperate for emotional stability and trying to heal old pain and emptiness that they dabble at a new reality....together. Can the new reality sustain as things progress? This was a small, quiet and strange little film with several moments of serious and meaty contemplation. Good acting and a unique story equals an interesting film choice gamble. However, the one gal had an awfully irritating wig.

Good, I guess.

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 12 June 2018]

It's a quiet flick. Very unhollywood and I did like how the story was fairly interesting without resulting in the usually Hollywood tricks like slap stick or melodrama At the same time the movie feels like a baseball game with a team trying to get on base and score versus going for the home run. I felt that the acting talent was not fully used to their full capability because I just did not feel the full impact of the story. It just falls short. Did hold the same quality as say Slow West, which I felt was a quiet movie that does hit you hard. Very bland.

A sad story

[Gordon-11 · 9 January 2019]

This film tells the story of a woman who thinks she was kidnapped when she was a child.

Though the film seems to be about Nancy, I think it really is about the couple with the missing child. They go through emotional rollercoasters every time when someone claims to have information about their missing child. I particularly like the fact that the result of the DNA test is implied and not explicit. I feel rather sad about how the couple react afterwards. There are three speeches by the her mother which indicates the result of the DNA test : in the snow just before the hunting accident, during dinner and when Nancy is interrupted from saying singing. It is heartbreaking to see that the mother would rather settle for the present, than have another dashed hope. I think this is an engaging and heartbreaking story.

A slow-burn whisper of a drama

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 15 August 2021]

'Nancy' is a quiet, contemplative movie. Sound scarcely rises above a normal conversational range; it would be easy to emphasize strong emotional beats in a story like this, but the tone is generally even and reserved to the point of almost feeling flat. Performances are notably subdued from all involved, including star Andrea Riseborough most of all, but also Steve Buscemi, from whom we usually expect roles of much more lively personality. Well after the plot actively stirs it never truly seems like it's begun at all, and not until the movie approaches its very end is there a sense of something profound at hand.

I enjoy and appreciate films of all flavors, including the most low-key and unbusy. 'Nancy' is well made from a technical standpoint, with especially swell consideration for the way scenes are arranged. There's a deft nuance to everyone's performances that aptly illustrates their skill, perhaps all the greater a challenge given the restrained air about the picture. Despite all this, I admittedly have a hard time engaging with the movie. It never feels incomplete, or lacking in any specific element per se. There's just not really anything to hold onto, anything that meaningfully sparks our imagination. 'Nancy' isn't bad, but I watch it and just don't feel the impact I assume was intended.

Art is subjective. Clearly this has an admiring audience, and I'm glad for that. I'm just not it. 'Nancy' is a reasonably worthwhile view if you come across it, but temper your expectations, and don't go out of your way.

The Wig... the Wig...the Wig

[ljmcfarland-79126 · 3/10 · 1 January 2022]

Is no one going to ask about the effing wig? I mean it's the main character, the riddle, the subplot. No one addresses it? The Wig wasn't even in the credits. Dang, they did wig wrong.

A wonderful and painful film to watch.

[Hellmant · 9/10 · 13 July 2018]

'NANCY': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A mystery-drama about a woman who comes to believe she was kidnapped as a child, after seeing a couple on TV who's daughter went missing 30-years earlier. The film was written and directed by debut feature filmmaker Christina Choe. It stars Andrea Riseborough, J. Smith-Cameron, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd and John Leguizamo. It's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics, and it's playing in select indie theaters now (like Portland). I found it to be extremely well made and fascinating.

Nancy Freeman (Riseborough) is a depressed, and very lonely woman in her thirties. She feels mostly alienated by all those around her, including her sick mom (Dowd). After her mother passes away one day, Nancy sees a couple on TV, Ellen (Smith-Cameron) and Leo Lynch (Buscemi), who's daughter went missing 30-years earlier (at the age of five). Nancy is the same age that the girl would be now, and the projected picture, of what the missing child would look like now, looks just like her. So Nancy becomes convinced that she's the couple's missing child, and after meeting then she becomes more and more convinced of this. So does the desperate mother, and an odd relationship forms between the Lynches and Nancy.

The movie is really involving, from the opening scene until the last one. It's got a great premise too, that keeps you guessing all the way until the film's conclusion too. The performances are all good (especially Riseborough), and you really learn to care for all of these extremely damaged but oddly loveable characters too. It's a wonderful and painful film to watch, that's well worth seeing in my opinion.

Very good indeed

[sophie910 · 7/10 · 19 January 2019]

I really began to question myself throughout this and really was rooting for Nancy to be their daughter towards the end, especially when she was in the woods and saw the remnants of a tree house, not to be though.....it seems

100% Drama. No suspense. No horror. No point.

[MovieDadJH · 4/10 · 19 February 2022]

Nancy is not a bad movie to watch if you are expecting to watch a drama about a woman who perpetrates identity fraud on strangers online, but who actually feels somewhat lost about her own true identity and where she really came from.

But if you are expecting suspense or thrills, an exciting plot, a shocking twist, or dynamic ending, don't hold your breath.

Unconditionally loved it

[bashfulbadger · 9/10 · 25 October 2018]

The beginning of the movie was absorbingly unhurried, drawing you into the claustrophobic confines of antiheroine Nancy's (Andrea Riseborough) white bread world.

We witness her dysfunctional co-dependency with undemonstrative mother Betty (Ann Dowd, even dourer than in Handmaid). A poor excuse for a parent, she is the antonym of empowering of her offspring, discouraging downtrodden Nancy from trying, convinced she'll never succeed.

Riseborough impressively blends vulnerability and an innate dishonesty as this lost child-woman floundering on the outskirts of society cooking up interesting life experiences to swap like recipes in work lunch breaks, in an effort to convince everybody else that she's just like them.

When she wishful thinks herself the child kidnapped from dream parents Ellen (J. Smith-Cameron) and (Steve Buscemi) as a five-year-old, you cross your fingers and pray she's finally found where she belongs.

Ellen for me was the revelation in the piece, a picture of heartbreaking hope and desperate desire that this pretender's story prove true. The bond they forge is beautiful and visibly enriches them both. Smith-Cameron's face, betraying all her emotions, and her developing unconditional love for this would-be daughter reduce me to tears. Paul Raeburn's music helps to destroy me.

The film is full of ambiguities that intrigue rather than frustrate. Not much happens, in fact but we're allowed to watch a family drama play out and a soul adrift's quest for a safe mooring.

Unusual Movie

[carolynocean · 6/10 · 10 December 2021]

I did'nt know what to expect from this based on the reviews.

It is'nt my type of movie at all , I am more of a thriller/horror/mystery person, but I can see how people did like it , for what it is , a deep ,thought provoking drama.

I found it very sad , and was disappointed with the ending , too many unanswered questions , I suppose that was probably the intention here, but I feel that because it was so intense , it deserved a more complete ending.

Not for me , but do watch if you like deep dramas .

It's not a slow burn if fire never starts

[opiaterein · 4/10 · 6 November 2021]

The acting is spot-on, but this quiet film leaves much to be desired. The word anticlimax comes to mind.

Other reviewers describe this as a sad film, some going as far as to label it "misery porn." I could have accepted some misery porn. But once you've seen The Swerve starring the Incomparable Azura Skye, the bar for something to be called misery porn becomes so much higher than Nancy reaches. Nancy is far from a feel-good film, but it's also a long way from the opposite thereof. It is sad, and quiet, and I expect to be forgetting it within days.

bleak and unbelievable

[smoke0 · 10 September 2018]

So let's start with the questions any person in Nancy's situation would normally face - how do the bills get paid in this household? Where did the money for the funeral come from? How did Nancy get a driver's license and social security card without a birth certificate? Right, indie filmmakers who need to make films about the downtrodden never sweat those details, because they never lived that life as much as they want to capture and idealize it.

And why is this movie so bleak? We have a scene that hinted at the humor inherent in this kind of movie: her absurd story about visiting North Korea as a tourist, but, no, let's go for how sad and awful and dull and bleak Nancy's life is instead, because nobody in her situation could possibly be anything but miserable.

Even the ending is bleak, when it doesn't need to be; I chose to interpret her leaving as without severing ties, that Nancy has found some happiness but chooses not to spoil it by overstaying her welcome, that she and the couple will continue to be in contact, because otherwise, what the hell was the point?

If you're going to make an indie movie about sad, oppressed people, at least let them have a chance and at least make their lives believable, otherwise this just plays out like a limousine liberal's worst nightmare.

Ok story about the search of identity

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 13 April 2023]

I am a big thriller fan and often watch them not just for the actors. Having heard for a while about NANCY I knew that I had to see it but when I saw it last January I felt baffled because here on IMDB is labeled as a thriller but it's not really one.

Nancy Freeman (Andrea Riseborough) is a thirty-something year old woman that lives with her mother in a condition of unease: not only she has to care for her mother that is gradually suffering from dementia but she doesn't feel connected to her and doesn't have great memories of her childhood. After Nancy's mother dies she sees on TV an announcement by a Leo (Steve Buscemi) and Ellen Lynch that talk about their daughter that went missing decades ago. Nancy confronts her face with that of the missing girl and Nancy convinces to be her, and so she goes to the Lynch couple for living with the Lynch family that accepts her like the lost daughter and when she finally discovers the truth she flees.

I liked the concept. Very few movies have been made about young people in search of true identity, and this is probably the first about someone who thinks to be a missing person. And the acting by Riseborough and Buscemi was good on a whole.

But some things confused me. First, Nancy goes to the Lynch household and without any real proof she claims to be their lost daughter and they accept her in the home. Don't you think that the Lynch couple could have called the cops for having a complete stranger going to live with them? Second, the fact that in the end left the Lynch household made me think that her 'sacrifice' of living with the couple was vain because she understood that she is not their daughter and has to live on her own.

Overall, a different movie with a nice concept that worked but just needed a better re-write. As it is, a worth seeing experiment but nothing more.

Not bad but could have been better.

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 27 January 2020]

A good mystery movie for me is a movie with an interesting beginning, followed by alot of intrigues, guessing what's going on, twists and turns, to conclude by a satisfying and/or all explaining ending. Nancy had it almost all correct expect for the ending that I thought was a bit disappointing, just the kind of ending that doesn't satisfy. I would have scored it a little higher if it was not for that, but I'm sure other people will find it good enough. The acting is good, from the whole cast, the story is captivating and intriguing, but the outcome wasn't what I expected.

The opposite of a feel-good movie.

[borgolarici · 6/10 · 27 January 2021]

If you can handle the misery porn in the first part, you'll be rewarded with an extremely bleak second one. This is not a feel-good movie but its exact opposite: it's sad, hopeless and gloomy. It's very well done though, i felt somewhat invested in the characters and I really wanted to see what would happen to them. I don't feel like giving a higher rating because there were too many thing left basically unexplained, I get that some stuff was meant to be symbolic, but It was unsatisfying.

a troubled young woman

[dimwinne · 5/10 · 16 September 2018]

Meet Nancy, someone who doesn't have the greatest of lives. After seeing the news and call about the missing girl she probably sees this as a way out. They do tell you in the movie what the result is, that person who reviewed it, maybe didn't pay that good of attention. It's not word per word, but you get it from the reactions. I would only recommend this movie to viewers who want to see it because they're fans of who ever plays in this movie.

A Thoughtful Character Study

[lavatch · 8/10 · 2 January 2021]

"Nancy" was a sensitive and compelling story about a thirty-five-year-old woman who claims to be Brooke, the daughter of Leo and Ellen, who was kidnapped three decades in the past. The film develops the drama of a how truthful her claim might be and what she may be concealing from the still-grieving parents.

The first part of the film establishes the character of Nancy Freeman and her relationship with her strange mother Betty. After Betty dies of a stroke, Nancy watches a television exposé of a decades old kidnapping case. She compares an imagined photograph of how the lost girl might appear today and starts thinking about her own birth certificate that apparently she has never seen.

The photo does bear a striking resemblance to Nancy. But it is also clear that Nancy has a vivid imagination based on her blog, her writing of short stories, and her impersonation of a pregnant woman for a man she met online. Is she a compulsive liar? Is she slightly delusional and believes her own lies? Or, is she really the long lost daughter of Ellen and Leo?

Nancy then travels to meet the parents. Curiously, she has no memories of her childhood or her experiences with the parents. Little Brooke disappeared around age four, but the only memory that Nancy can conjure is that of a tree house in the forest. But the audience knows that the tree house is not a memory but something Nancy knew existed based on remains of the tree house she saw during a stroll. Nancy is about to make a confession when Ellen cuts her off and requests that they continue the conversation the next day. By that time, however, Nancy is back on the road.

The character of the mother, a literature professor, was especially moving. It was clear that she desperately wanted Nancy to be her daughter. But it was also clear that Ellen might accept this new person in her life even after learning the negative results of the DNA test. The father, Leo, who is a psychiatrist, is more skeptical.

There was especially strong feeling conveyed by the exceptional cast. At the close of the film, Nancy seems relieved that the experience is over. But it is unclear what will be the next chapter in her life after she returns home with her cat.

A little too slow. But sweet and sad in equal parts! Great script/screenplay/dialogue

[educallejero · 6/10 · 9 October 2018]

The movie takes you on a ride without any explosions and complicated plots or battles.

Its sad, then hopeful, then sweet, then emotional, then a bit sad again, then the ending which I won't spoil.

Its good! And not forgettable!

Ug

[midphx · 2/10 · 10 April 2021]

Intriguing story idea, dreadful movie. I kept waiting for it to get better. I'm still waiting. And I will never get that time back.

Intriguing & Haunting Psychological "Thriller"

[larrys3 · 8/10 · 7 October 2019]

This indie is an intriguing and haunting psychological "thriller", but not a thriller in the ordinary use of the term. There's just a constant air of melancholic uncertainty, so you just don't know which way the film is going to go.

The most talented Andrea Riseborough gives a terrific performance here as the introverted and depressive Nancy who's possibly a victim of abuse. She's been taking care of her ailing and carping mother (Ann Dowd), who has Parkinson's. Nancy is an aspiring writer, suffering through many rejection letters from publishers, while trying to earn money in temp jobs.

When her mother passes from a stroke, Nancy sees a TV news story about the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl from a shopping mall. When see sees an age progression picture of what the girl would look like today, it bears a striking resemblance to her. Add to that, the fact that Nancy cannot find her birth certificate in any files at home.

She calls the parents of the missing girl and sets up a meeting with them, after sending them a photo of herself on her cell phone. The father (Steve Buscemi) is a psychologist and skeptical whether Nancy is their daughter, while the mother (J. Smith Cameron) is more accepting and open to the possibility. Both Buscemi and Smith Cameron are superb in their roles here.

I won't go into more details or write spoilers, but I'll say I was very engrossed as to which way this movie was going to go.

Overall, not the easiest film to watch because of its constant melancholic tone, but the fine acting from a most solid cast and its suspenseful atmospherics drew me in and kept me there. An excellent feature film debut from Christina Choe, who wrote and directed the indie.

The Wig

[lisakhannah · 4/10 · 23 January 2021]

I can't get past it. The movie is slow and doesn't fill in enough information.

Read the Slant magazine review

[VoyagerMN1986 · 9 September 2018]

After seeing this with half the audience groaning I was going to write a review, but after reading the Slant Magazine review (linked under critic reviews on IMDB's main "Nancy" page, I recommend reading that review which nails all the conceits and tropes in this film. Ohe of the other user reviews here said they were impressed the film did not use the usual Hollywood tricks. This baffles me since the entire mode of the film is to march out every possible US film school trick. In fact the film makers ARE Nancy right down to her final decision to simply walk out with no resolution.