Family relationships are hard

Contains some spoilers

Lady Bird was released in 2017 and stars some familiar faces like Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet. It is set in 2002 Sacramento, California.

Christine, or “Lady Bird” which is the name she gave herself, is a lower-middle class Catholic high school senior who hates most parts of her life. Her complicated relationship with her mother, Marion, is highlighted throughout the film. Lady Bird’s dream is to go to a liberal arts school on the east coast. Her dream is tainted with her family’s financial struggles.

As I stated before, the mother-daughter relationship is a main part of the film. Whether they admit it or not, Lady Bird and Marion are very similar. You may wonder why Lady Bird prefers that name over Christine. That is because she does not want to take anything from her mother, including her name. Despite the sour moments of their relationship, there are some sweet ones, too.

Lady Bird experiences the typical teenage things during her senior year, like school struggles, friendships, and first loves.  While at her graduation lunch, it is revealed that Lady Bird is on the waiting list for her dream New York school, despite telling her family she would go to UC Davis. Naturally, Marion is very upset and, for the whole summer, she doesn’t talk to Lady Bird, who ends up being accepted at the NY school. When Marion and Lady Bird’s father, Larry, dropped her off at the airport, Marion stayed in the car. She regrets this and tries to make it to the gate before Lady Bird left, but she was too late.

In New York, Lady Bird gets alcohol poisoning at a college party and ends up in the emergency room. When she leaves, on her walk back to her dorm she calls her mom. I won’t spoil what she says though because it left me in tears. I strongly recommend that you watch it for yourself.