Whether it’s an understated coming-of-age portrayal of a biracial teenage girl beginning to recognize how her race and class impact how society treats her and others like her (“Miriam Lies”); a raucous music comedy short about an all-girl Muslim punk band from London (“Lady Parts”); or a sci-fi infused dark drama about a teenage girl who discovers she has super powers after an attempted sexual assault (“Impulse”), this month’s VOD and web series picks all offer portrayals of young women on the cusp of figuring themselves out.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s VOD and web series selections for October.
VOD
“Miriam Lies” – Written and Directed by Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada
Biracial teenager Miriam (Dulce Rodríguez) is the endearing star of this understated coming-of-age drama set in the Dominican Republic. Tackling the role of race and class in Dominican society, writer-directors Cabral and Estrada — who previously made documentaries “You and Me” (2014) and “Site of Sites” (2016), also focusing on these themes — present a protagonist who is just beginning to understand her place in the world.
Miriam goes to meet her internet boyfriend, Jean-Louis, who is to be her dance partner at her and best friend Jennifer’s (Carolina Rohana) joint quinceañera. But when she discovers Jean-Louis is also black, Miriam hides out of internalized shame, and lies to her mother that he didn’t show up. As the party draws nearer, and the pressure of dance rehearsals without a dance partner builds, Miriam’s lie spirals more and more out of control.
Rodríguez deftly portrays Miriam’s curiosity about the social structures she observes around her; and Cabral and Estrada smartly avoid melodrama, while never shying away from the reality of the racial microaggressions Miriam encounters in daily life.
You can stream “Miriam Lies” on Amazon or HBO.
“Lady Parts” (Short) – Written and Directed by Nida Manzoor
“Gotta hand it to them,” announces Amina Hussein (Anjana Vasan), directly to camera, “no one cock-blocks quite like my parents.” The setting? A meeting with a prospective suitor and his parents. Geeky, nervous Amina is ready to settle down and marry; her mom thinks she should make the most of life and go interrailing around Europe. But Londoner Amina’s life is about to change forever when she crosses paths with the all-female Muslim punk band Lady Parts, who are rehearsing angry sibling anthem “Kill My Sister” — co-written by director Nida Manzoor — when we are first introduced to them.
Led by Saira (Ritu Arya), lead vocalist and guitarist, and moody butcher, the band is — according to Amina — comprised of one-part boredom, two-parts identity crisis. The other members of the band are drummer Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), a ride-share driver with an effective method of dealing with unruly passengers, super chill bassist and artist Bisma (Danielle Vitalis), and “band manager” Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), who works in a bra shop and brings “good weed and solid banter.” But they’re looking for a second guitarist, and that’s where Amina comes in, reticently.
This hilarious, subversive short served as a pilot, which has since been commissioned for a six-part series at Channel 4 in the UK. No word as yet when it will premiere but if one thing is certain, it’s that Manzoor’s short will have you laughing out loud, and desperate for more.
Watch “Lady Parts” on the Channel 4 website, or on YouTube.
Web Series
With its second season having just premiered, YouTube Premium series “Impulse” is an adaptation of Steven Gould’s YA novel of the same name, and follows 17-year-old Henrietta “Henry” Coles (Maddie Hasson), who discovers she has special powers. During an attempted rape, Henry has a seizure and teleports away to safety — the series explores her attempts to reconcile the assault with its consequences, while she also struggles to come to terms with her new powers.
Showrunner Lauren LeFranc has assembled a pool of female talent in front of and behind the camera to ensure the story is sensitively told, and does justice to exploring the long-term impact of an issue such as sexual assault. New additions to the Season 2 roster include directors Sydney Freeland (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Jill Robertson (“Humans”), and writer Lara Shapiro (“The Americans”).
The first season is available to watch for free on YouTube, as are the first two episodes of Season 2. The remainder of Season 2 is available to watch with a YouTube Premium subscription.
