In the world we live in, between theaters and streaming, there is so much “content” (god, I hate that word when referring to art) out there that great films can get lost in the shuffle among all our choices. When I was contacted to see if I would be interested in viewing and potentially covering Good Girl Jane, I looked at the synopsis of the film and thought this could be really special, or it could be an overly familiar take on a story we’ve all seen before–that of a girl in trouble. Let me state clearly: Good Girl Jane is the former.
As I sat through the film’s riveting 117 minutes, any second thoughts I might have had disappeared. It’s a staggering thought that Good Girl Jane is director Sarah Jane-Mintz’s first full-length feature and, starring as Jane, Rain Weaver’s first time on-screen with any lines. Their partnership (and the excellent work of the crew and supporting actors Patrick Gibson, Eloisa Huggins, and the always wonderful Andie MacDowell) has created one of the most bracing films I’ve seen on the subject of teen loneliness and the dark places that it can lead to.
In our conversation, Sarah and Rain opened up about the film’s background, creation, and the trust in each other required to make this tremendous film.
The Contending: I have a quick confession to make. I only recently learned of Good Girl Jane, and when I was asked if I wanted to do coverage for it, I said, “Okay, send me a screener so I can do a proper interview.” Then, a part of me thought, “I hope I like it because what if I don’t?”
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: We like you already, David. So honest. (Laughs).
The Contending: This is a story, in a broad view, that we’ve seen before: a young person getting involved in activities they are not ready for and spiraling. The only comparables I could come up with that had the same sort of power were a film from a couple of years ago called Palm Trees and Power Lines, and then I had to go all the way back to 2003 to Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen. Sarah, I know that this is a very personal film for you.
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: I have not yet seen Palm Trees and Power Lines, but I’ve heard that reference, with regard to Jane, so many times. I’m like, goodness, I really have to see this film. I’ve heard wonderful things about it. I’ve heard it in the same sentence as my film many times. So that’s on the to-do list. And then, of course, Thirteen, which came out around when my own story happened, that this film is inspired by. That film was also a personal story for one of the actors and co-writers of that film. It’s pretty closely pulled from my life. The narrative that you’re seeing isn’t necessarily high concept. It’s not a brand-new narrative. What I was hoping to offer is the presence of the perspective and a window into an experience that is quite internal, especially for Jane. I hope I did that. When you’re telling a story that you know is not just universal but something that people have tried to tell many times, you just want to bring something new to it. All of us who were involved really felt like we hooked onto something that we thought we could offer to this filmmaking space. So that was the intention. I brought as many specifics as I could bring. The more specific you get regarding your own honest lived experience, the more relatable it becomes. I found that the more I looked in and got a little naked–not literally (laughs), but the more that I revealed of myself, the more I was able to connect to the crew and the cast and now, hopefully, to the audience.
The Contending: What separates this film from other productions of its type is the immediacy of the filmmaking. In the intimate and quieter scenes, you almost feel like you’re eavesdropping. In the more chaotic scenes, you’re like, get me the hell out of this room, which I mean as a compliment, obviously, because I’m experiencing as close as a viewer can to what’s going on in the moment. Your filmmaking efforts in terms of the handheld camera work and the movement of the camera immerse the viewer into the story.
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: I’m really lucky that I partnered with a producing team, a cinematographer, and a cast willing to take this freefall leap with me into shooting the way we did. There are something like 100 scenes in the movie, and there are somewhere around 120 shots. It’s just very sparing in terms of the amount of coverage; there’s almost none. We have about a shot per scene. It’s possible to shoot a story that way and lose momentum and lose some of the tools that are inherent to cinema in building texture. Still, like I said earlier, the hope was that if I stayed present with these young people, their energy would just grab you and bring you into the moment. And that’s only possible if the performances are as strong as they are. It would have been a fool’s errand otherwise.
The Contending: You set me up perfectly. Rain, I have not forgotten that you were here.
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: Impossible to do.
The Contending: I want to ask this question delicately. Rain, at the time of the shooting, you were of an adult age. You’re playing somebody who is younger than you and is not of the age of consent, and this is a factor in the film. Those sequences of intimacy with Patrick, who plays Jamie, how did you put yourself in the place of this younger, inexperienced girl for whom things are happening too fast?
Rain Spencer: I think it’s a beautiful question. I truly tried to access my 16-year-old self. I related to Jane in a lot of ways, from when I was a teenager–the loneliness and isolation and the need to connect with people or connect with anything to fill that void. That’s what drew me to the script initially because I felt it was so raw, and what Sarah put down on paper was so vulnerable, authentic, and incredible. Being in that perspective of someone so young, going through these things, and it is such a hard subject, with a young girl and an older male, what was so necessary for me to remember and to live in was that when something like that is happening, you don’t know that it’s happening. It is real love, it is true, and you don’t know the gravity of the situation. All you know is that whatever void you had is being filled with something, and those feelings are so intense and amazing in that moment, in this sort of facade. I’ve watched this movie now a few times outside of that perspective, and it’s so difficult for me just because I had to go to that place of really being in love. It’s hard to watch as just an audience member and remember the gravity of the situation and what’s actually happening. For me, seeing it as an adult is so jarring and hard.
The Contending: And you also have to carry this film. You are in, if not every scene, certainly nearly every scene.
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: She’s in every scene.
The Contending: My goodness. Some of your scenes are with Andie McDowell, who plays your mother. I’ve interviewed her before for Maid, where she played her real daughter’s mother, and she was delightful. Here, she’s playing a mother that it’s not that she doesn’t care; it’s that she’s not fully present, and she’s trying to do the least amount of parenting, it seems, to keep you and your little sister on the right path. She’s got work distractions, and she’s still angry at her ex-husband. She doesn’t entirely see Jane. I think that really shows up when you attempt to confess to her the drug abuse and what’s been going on with your character at the diner. What was it like to shoulder this movie and have someone as experienced as Andie there with you?
Rain Spencer: I am immensely grateful to have worked with an icon on my first project. I learned so much from just watching the way that she moved on set, how present she was in those moments, and how much we got to play. This was my first project. This is my first role with lines, and Sarah, for some reason, saw me and thought that I might be able to do it. I felt like I could do it, but for her to think I could do it was like a God shot. I remember that from the first time I read the script, I had a really deep connection to it. I’ve read a lot of scripts, and I’ve done a ton of auditions. I’ve been auditioning for film and TV since I was ten. I’ve been auditioning my entire life, and this is the only project where I felt such a tie. I felt like if I didn’t do this, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I was working in a jewelry store when I got the callback. I looked over to my coworker, and I was like this is the lead of the movie. Can I do this? And she said, ” Yeah, you just do it one scene at a time.” Instead of being so daunting, I’m just going to sit down and look at it that way. I was so nervous. Like I said, I thought I could do it, but I was also such a nervous wreck in the callbacks, thinking about it before and after. I was just grateful to be there, but I wanted this so bad. I remember in the callback, we did it a few times, and she (Sarah) pulled me into the hallway…
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: I remember I called her back once, and I knew we were going to do chemistry tests in a few weeks. It was the second call back, and I pulled her into the hallway because I could tell she was nervous. I said listen, you could go in there and recite the alphabet. You can go in there and do a performative dance. I don’t care what you do. I’m bringing you back in for the chemistry test. Just show up and be yourself, and try not to think about the outcome of what today is.
Rain Spencer: I left the chemistry read thinking, “I didn’t get that. I for sure didn’t get that.” Throughout the whole process, Sarah held my hand. It is a big job. It’s my first movie, and I’m just attempting to be a part of it. Sarah has guided me. She just showed up with love and trust. I think that was the biggest thing: I felt like she really trusted me, and I really trusted her, and I’ll trust her forever.
The Contending: This film was shown at Tribeca in 2022, winning Best Narrative and Best Lead. It’s not hard to understand why. But the world of film moves in a funny way, and it can take a long time for a movie to go from the festival to the masses. There had to be a feeling that Tribeca saw us, and they awarded us, and now we’re ready to go. Then, here we are two years later, with the film finally getting a proper release. What has that period of time been like for the two of you?
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz: I have been working on this movie for quite a long time, just over a decade. It’s been both a long and a short wait in the context of the big picture. It was such a magical and unexpected moment when we did win at the festival. I almost didn’t even go to that award ceremony because it wasn’t on my radar that we might be awarded anything. Rain wasn’t there; she was on an airplane. I don’t think any of us made the movie knowing what this life would look like. We were all genuinely happy to be there and telling that story together, and we’ve gotten to do that together for so long. What’s fascinating to me is that I won’t be with these people anymore every single day, but I hold them in my heart. We are all now very much a family, but now it’s everyone else’s. We are handing it to everyone else, and it’s been very much ours for so long.
Rain Spencer: I have trusted this process from the beginning. I trusted it when nothing was happening and I trust it right now. That’s the short answer. I just believe in Sarah so much. This film is my baby. It’s our baby. It means so much to me. I am happy if one person sees it. I’m happy if millions of people see it, and I think it is going to reach exactly who it’s meant to reach.
Good Girl Jane is streaming now on Amazon Prime
