Lorelei

Even the beats of Lorelei that feel manufactured connect because of the tenderness of the filmmaking and performances.

Elevated by Jena Malone and Pablo Schreiber, debut feature filmmaker Sabrina Doyle's tale of Americans on the fringe is compassionately textured even when it veers into cliché.

The film is invested in accurately depicting the details of its character's lives, but its collection of studied impressions doesn't coalesce into a coherent final portrait.

Good onscreen chemistry between Jena Malone and Pablo Schreiber lifts the filmmaker’s debut feature out of traps set by occasionally mundane dialogue and predictable complications.