Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023)
92%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: NA
Palm Trees and Power Lines tells a difficult story with searing skill — and marks Lily McInerny as a young actor with brilliant potential.
Palm Trees and Power Lines delivers a difficult and moving story with exceptional skill, establishing Lily McInerny as a young actor with remarkable potential. The film’s raw honesty and authenticity are striking, effectively tackling challenging subject matter. McInerny’s performance is a standout, showcasing her talent and ability to deliver an emotional and nuanced portrayal. Overall, Palm Trees and Power Lines is an outstanding movie that delivers a thought-provoking and poignant experience for viewers, and is a testament to the skill of its cast and crew.
Production Company(ies)
VOD
Distributor
Momentum Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2023
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 50m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 3, 2023 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 3, 2023
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Palm Trees and Power Lines, Lily McInerny, Jonathan Tucker, Gretchen Mol, Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay, drama, R rating, Momentum Pictures, directed by Jamie Dack, produced by Leah Chen Baker and Jamie Dack, written by Jamie Dack and Audrey Findlay, Kate Erbland, Barry Hertz, Randy Myers, Alissa Wilkinson, Tomris Laffly, Philip De Semlyen, Laura Clifford, Sherin Nicole, Amy Smith, Martin Carr, Chloe Walker, sexual assault, coercion, exploitation, consent, cautionary tale, disturbing, uncomfortable, searing skill, brilliant potential, young actor, monotony, chance encounter, red flags, true intentions, isolated, dark, edgy, exploitation, no easy answers, familiar but vital story, hard watch, emotionally involved, horrors of abuse
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jonathan Tucker – Tom
Gretchen Mol – Sandra
Jamie Dack – Director, Screenwriter
Audrey Findlay – Screenwriter
Director(s)
Jamie Dack
Writer(s)
Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay
Producer(s)
Leah Chen Baker, Jamie Dack
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (3)
You might know where this is going, but Dack and McInerny ensure you can’t predict how it will feel, right or wrong.
February 14, 2023 | Rating: B
Kate Erbland
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
Dack’s film refuses to offer tidy answers, pushing the story into uncomfortable places that feel genuine and boundary-challenging.
December 13, 2022
Barry Hertz
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
This horrifyingly realistic cautionary tale about a teen girl and her charismatic predator is exceptionally well made — and it will make your skin crawl.
February 3, 2022
Randy Myers
San Jose Mercury News
TOP CRITIC
What makes Palm Trees and Power Lines so disturbing is how we can see what’s happening to Lea, even as she can’t — and how plausible the movie’s disturbing conclusion really seems.
February 3, 2022
Alissa Wilkinson
Vox
TOP CRITIC
Palm Trees and Power Lines goes somewhere even darker than Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, with a brave query into the notion of consent and a gut-wrenching parting note that feels like a scream stuck in one’s throat.
February 2, 2022
Tomris Laffly
Harper’s Bazaar
TOP CRITIC
It’s a compelling, edgy story of exploitation with no easy answers.
January 31, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Philip De Semlyen
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Dack’s film may be the best of its kind since Joyce Chopra’s 1985 “Smooth Talk” and in many ways is the more dramatic side of Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket.”
February 26, 2023 | Rating: B+
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
It makes you want to shriek, but the primary tension in Palm Trees and Power Lines is locked into its themes, the baited hook, and its final scene…an ending as ominous as a razor blade across the carotid.
February 25, 2023
Sherin Nicole
AWFJ.org
The slow-burn pacing and respectful handling of this particularly distressing and sensitive subject matter make “Palm Trees And Power Lines” one of the best at telling a familiar but vital story.
November 30, 2022 | Rating: 7/10
Amy Smith
Next Best Picture
Writer director Jamie Dank has offered up something of depth on a genuinely challenging topic, in this her feature film debut. Carried by Jonathan Tucker and Lily McInerny in the lead roles, Palm Trees and Power Lines is a hard watch worthy of note.
October 28, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Martin Carr
We Got This Covered
While Palm Trees and Power Lines certainly functions as a cautionary tale, it derives the intensity of its power from the uncomfortable degree to which we’re compelled to empathize with Lea as she makes a string of increasingly perilous decisions.
October 9, 2022 | Rating: 8.7/10
Chloe Walker
Paste Magazine
Palm Trees and Power Lines finds a film language to depict sexual assault and coercion in a way that keeps us emotionally involved with our heroine, without reveling in the horrors of the abuse.
May 24, 2022
Alex Heeney
Seventh Row…
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Lea’s summer is interrupted by a chance encounter with an older man named Tom, who promises an alternative to her unsatisfying adolescent life, but as things progress between them, red flags about Tom’s life begin to surface, and Lea finds herself in a situation she never could have imagined in Palm Trees and Power Lines.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels does not have any goofs listed for the film “Palm Trees and Power Lines.”
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