
Rain Reign is directed by Erika Burke Rose which is her directorial debut.
Rain Reign is a very straightforward coming of age story that works mainly due to its cast, the care that Erika Burke Rose put into the story and its quite authentic portrayal of neurodivergence.
The performances are quite beautifully done across the board. Felice Kakaletris (a neurodivergent actress) plays Rose a 12 year old neurodivergent girl who we follow throughout the film. We get to see her personality and some traits that tie into the film’s story, one of the main ones being homonyms something that Rose loves (hence the title of the film.) Kakaletris does such a beautiful job here, not only does the performance feel authentic but Kakaletris fills with this anxiousness of feeling out of control. The beautiful delivery lets the viewer see behind Rose’s shields whether that be heartache or frustration, she has a bunch of quiet moments that truly are effective. It’s a well done performance that the viewer quickly grows attached to and never lets go.
Jeremy Sisto and Paul Rudd are also both fantastic here. Sisto plays Wesley, Rose’s father who is going through rough trauma making caring for his daughter a lot harder. Sisto brings a lot of depth to a performance that could have easily went down the “one dimensional” route. Rudd plays Uncle Weldon the direct opposite of Wesley, he has a much better gentleness and connection. Combined together, Sisto and Rudd both do wonderful here and are at best when they share the screen with one another.
As someone who is neurodivergent how the film portrays neurodivergence is very well done. We get to see how Rose sees the world, how she communicates with the people around her and her general understanding of certain situations. One early scene of Rose having to be excused from the classroom and taking deep breaths is truly touching. Later in the film a classmate of her’s is sharing their experience with the storm that just occurred, the classmate was on the verge of crying so Rose asks “do you need to step outside” and goes with the classmate. This is by far my favorite scene of the film simply because we see Rose look at the people around her and wants to bring this light into the world.
There’s also the beautiful third act involving Rose’s dog Rain, not only does it have some solid character moments for all the characters. It’s a sweet ending that ties up all the film’s plot lines in a nice little bow, sure the way these plots are tied up are not anything new and certainly won’t surprise the viewer. But there is this level of charm that you can’t help but appreciate.
Rain Reign is not anything new, but as I said before it’s the film’s performances and authenticity that really sells it and pushes it to the finish line.
Rain Reign currently has no distribution
7/10 B








