Emotional Liminality and Reconnection in Hi. (2025)
What does it take to make a relationship work? Or a better question: what does it take to build and rebuild connection? Whether it be from strangers to friends or even between family members, making a relationship work is far from a simple task. Now, I’m no stranger to movies that explore deep connection between two strangers or even reconnecting with yourself. Hell, I just reviewed one revolving around the complexities of finding connection. But director, writer, and producer Olivia Nash really does something unique with this theme in her directorial debut, Hi. (2025).
Lavender Lark (played by Olivia Nash) is a college student who’s in the process of getting her first novel published. She returns home to her family bakery, where she’s reunited with her brother, Daniel (played by Chase Pollock), and her father, Peter (played by Charles Edwin Powell). Lavender keeps getting calls from her estranged mom, Kat (played by Brandie Louck), which she constantly declines. Their relationship became strained when Kat left the family at a critical time. While Daniel gets a new job at a bookstore, he meets a girl named Katie (played by Floriana Azemi), and the two begin dating. Lavender soon becomes acquainted with Daniel’s coworker, Dylan (played by Paul Grant). Things seem to look up for the siblings, until Kat makes a surprise visit.
It’s so rare to see a movie that addresses the liminality and small complexities of family life. Or the fragilities and discomforts and the difficulties that stem from life’s challenges. If you step into this movie expecting a smooth and whimsical journey from beginning to end, you’d be disappointed. We are so used to seeing perfect and idyllic households in movies and TV. Any family drama we see is either played for laughs or swept under the rug to never again be addressed. But Olivia Nash isn’t afraid to dive into the nitty-gritty details that show how bruised and scarred people continuously work on doing the small things to drive them forward. How relationships of all kinds require emotional effort and dedication to make them work. It’s refreshing, witty, and a realistic and multifaceted view of an already complex issue.
Seeing Lavender and Dylan’s budding friendship slowly blossom into something more is very heartwarming and simultaneously heart wrenching. At the surface, you could argue that they’re “trauma bonding.” Yes, they’re both facing their own familial demons. But their struggle for self-discovery is what truly brings them together. For Lavender, it’s establishing her own legacy through her writing style. Meanwhile, Dylan wishes to explore the world beyond his horizons. However, he’s hindered by lack of opportunity and the need to care for his grieving mother. However, both face unique challenges in order to make the relationship work. Lavender struggles to emotionally connect with others in fear that she will end up like her mom. And Dylan desperately wants connection since he doesn’t really have friends.
Now let’s talk about Lavender for a moment. Her past trauma involving Kat leaving the family puts her in an emotionally liminal state. She’s stuck in a space between worlds, which plays into her fear of connection. But at the same time, she deeply loves those around her. We see how she’s willing to spend extra time helping Peter at the bakery and constantly asks about Daniel’s well-being. She even offers him life and love advice. I’ve seen traumatized characters in other movies with a similar premise. But Lavender feels different than, say, Christine from Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird or Lydia from Leah Bleich’s The Moon and Back. She feels more akin to Sadie Sink’s Ellie in The Whale. Much like Ellie, Lavender’s strained parental figure is still alive, which gives her several opportunities to make up with them. And even though she’s angry with her mom for leaving the family, even going as far as ignoring all her phone calls, she secretly yearns for that reconnection.
But this movie also explores Kat’s side of the story and how she parallels Lavender. Besides their fiery red hair, both are talented writers who love fiercely yet have made plenty of mistakes stemming from complex life issues. Kat knows she’s made mistakes that even justify Lavender’s simmering rage. Yet she is willing to address her faults and make peace with her daughter. She calls her frequently to no avail, and even when she shows up for a family dinner, she’s still greeted with a cold shoulder from her daughter. Despite her frustration and anger towards Lavender’s coldness, she still persists in her endeavors. I really love how Olivia Nash goes the distance to show how both characters are emotionally suffering in different ways. It’s so rare to see both sides of an emotional conflict properly expressed in a little under two-hour film.
One other underrated aspect I have to mention is the cinematography. The camera is the audience’s eyes into these fictional characters’ lives. From the jaw-dropping wide shots of Denis Villeneuve to the unsettling tracking shots of Stanley Kubrick or even the uncomfortable close-ups of M. Night Shyamalan, every camera angle and shot is used to elicit a different reaction or emotion from the audience. But we rarely get to see the camera itself as a character. Throughout Hi. (2025), the camera is given just as much personality as our cast. For instance, we are treated to a cute back-and-forth pan when Dylan asks Lavender out after walking her home. It effectively highlights the situation’s awkwardness and adds an extra layer of physical humor to the scene.
Last but not least, I have to praise the acting. From Olivia Nash’s subdued yet simmering rage as Lavender to Chase Pollock’s expressive happiness and his explosive/impulsive anger to Paul Grant’s relatable vulnerability as Dylan. You can tell that the actors fully understand their characters from inside and out, which only goes to further strengthen the chemistry between characters in key moments, such as when Lavender and Kat’s strained relationship reaches its climax in the third act or when we see Lavender and Dylan’s bond strengthen over time. I have to give major props to both Charles Edwin Powell and Brandie Louck in their respective roles as Peter and Kat Lark. Seeing Brandie’s emotional breakdown as Kat struggles to reconnect with Lavender is nothing short of heart wrenching. And Charles Powell does an amazing job acting as a struggling, yet emotionally supportive father who both effortlessly displays awkward “dad humor” while slowly coming to terms with his own mortality. And despite her small role, Lorelei Linklater (Richard Linklater’s daughter) really does an incredible job as James, Katie’s (kinda?) abusive girlfriend. Her smug vocal inflection, her facial expressions, and even her wardrobe all elicit disdain for James. Talent really does run in the family!
There are many movies that explore finding connection between two or more people. But there are few that truly address emotional liminality and the little things people do to make their relationships work. Even saying the word “hi” can have a profound impact on the cataclysm of what life offers. Buoyed by an emotionally liminal yet self-reflective tone along with refreshingly real and down-to-earth performances, first-time director Olivia Nash’s Hi. (2025) redefines what it means to make our relationships work. Go give it a watch; you might just find a newfound appreciation for the little things in your own life.
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