Masks abound in Kelley Kali and Angelica Molina’s written and directorial feature film collaboration, I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking). Funded by stimulus checks, it’s a COVID-era creation, through and through, but its complete avoidance of directly addressing the pandemic offers a breath of fresh air.
In addition to producing, Kali also stars as Danny, a recently widowed mother who lost her home amid the pandemic and now lives with her daughter, Wes (Wesley Moss), in a tent pitched off the side of a road. (Kalli took the Special Jury Recognition for Multi-hyphenate Storyteller in this year’s SXSW Film Grand Jury awards.) She tells Wesley they’re camping, and hides her houseless life from everyone she knows. The camera follows Danny through a single day, as she attempts to earn the last couple hundred dollars to secure housing for her and her daughter by the end of the day, spiraling into an exhausting time crunch. Roller skating through palm tree-laden Los Angeles, Danny tries to round up hair clients, deliver food through a DoorDash-esque company, and pawn the few items she has.
While its occasional comedic antics exist in the shadow of distress, the film’s genuine humor (free from COVID jests) and saturated aesthetic soften the stark situation. Here, it could almost be viewed through the lens of the Before Time — until a pandemic-trained brain sees Danny speaking to relative strangers with her mask dangling at her ear. This brief inaccuracy elevates its anxiety, but also communicates Danny’s increasing desperation.
Instead of ruminating on loss, I’m Fine allows grief to linger in the background, coming to a head when Danny sacrifices her late husband’s ring as a last-ditch effort to make the security deposit. Though a common lesson in letting go, the story’s parameters revive it, if only through sheer stress.
By the conclusion, however, Danny’s relief is just as harrowing as it is soothing. Her first tears flow the moment she wakes up in their new apartment — they’re safe, even if they’ve got to keep fighting for the next day. I’m Fine recognizes the temporality of security in its intense stakes, but the traumatic uncertainty the previous year has instilled can’t help but creep in.
I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking) certainly asserts Kelley Kali as a multi-talented artist who can make do with what she’s got, but it’s hard to say whether the film will hold up beyond these days. For now, a taste of hope is appreciated, even if we can’t fully swallow it yet.
I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking)
Narrative Feature Competition
World Premiere
This article appears in March 19 • 2021.