'I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking)' is the first great pandemic-era film | SXSW review

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) follows a young mother as she tries to collect enough money to pay for an apartment for her and her daughter in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking), with its highly empathetic approach to telling a story of financial struggle during the coronavirus pandemic, is one of the best films about 2020. Entertaining, emotional, and highly effective, it will be a film we go back to a decade from now and marvel at our resilience.

Even though I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) takes place during the pandemic, it’s not about the pandemic. It’s about what we do to ourselves (and each other) in times of strife. It’s about the inability to give an honest answer to “how are you?” It’s about those small nuances in our human existence that make us so resilient — and so fragile. Because of those things, I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is the first great movie about the cursed year that is 2020.

When we first meet Danny (co-director Kelley Kali), a recently widowed hairdresser, and her 8-year-old daughter Wes (Wesley Moss) they’re sleeping in a tent just off the side of the road — a “fun camping trip” as Danny puts it to Wes. However, we soon find out that their fun camping trip isn’t exactly optional as they lost their home during the pandemic following the death of Danny’s husband Sam.

Now with just one day to collect the money for a security deposit on an apartment, Danny crisscrosses around the city in her rollerblades taking hair clients, running delivery service gigs, and chasing down any avenue to make the payment. It doesn’t go well.

Kelley Kali, co-director and star of I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking) — Kelley Kali, co-director and star of *I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)*. Premiering at the 2021 Online SXSW Film Festival. Credit: Elton Anderson

A series of unfortunate events set her back every step of the way leaving her tired, depressed, and angry at her situation. It oddly plays like a suspenseful slow-burn thriller that is set against a racing clock — Uncut Gems comes to mind — but with a charm and humor to it. However, Kali and co-director Angelique Molina never let the movie stray into absurd. What they’re telling is a very real tale.

Despite her frustrations, Danny doesn’t actually tell anyone the predicament that she’s in, whether out of pride, embarrassment, or not wanting to make someone feel uncomfortable. More than once someone asks her how she’s doing to which she responds, “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” However, the people asking don’t want their real answer. In one scene, an acquaintance equates Danny’s husband dying to losing her husband’s cousin’s coworker.

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That is the brilliance of I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking). The cultural objects of the pandemic are present — the masks, the distancing, the closed shops — but it instead focuses on the individual struggle and the keenly human nature of making every situation about yourself. How can one be empathetic to another’s struggle when you’re “struggling” yourself?

After accidentally tripping into a puddle while high — a long story — Danny finds herself underwater. Money, her husband’s ring, and her rollerskates float around her. She is quite literally drowning. Of course, this is just a hallucinatory dream caused by the unintentionally powerful weed her friend gave her thinking it’s what she needed — instead of actual help. That’s the feeling that I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is trying to make you empathetic to. Even though the pandemic was hard for you, there are people that are actually drowning. You just have to take a second and ask, “how are you doing?”

More movies, less problems

Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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Karl Delossantos

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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.