Under Streetlights film review: a sweetly powerful portrait of friendship

Telling a story about a creative journey isn’t as easy as it looks. There are plenty of dodgy biopics out there that play connect-the-dots between someone’s life and their art in a way that trivialises both; attempts to dig down into how art is actually made can struggle to dramatise what is often a very internal process.

First time writer-director Danielle Loy skilfully sidesteps most of those problems with this infectiously charming drama by focusing on the connection between two budding artists. They’ve both already found their voices; it’s when they sing together that the magic happens.

After her mother’s death, 18-year-old Ella (Madison Hull) is looking to make a connection. Wandering around the pub during the wake, she meets off-duty barman Izak (Jacob Harvey). He’s an aspiring hip-hop artist making music on his phone; when she hears a snippet of one of his tracks, the American-Australian – who’s a musician herself, though her work’s more melodic – is instantly hooked.

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Wandering the dusty streets of Alice Springs, their art unites them, though it’s not just music they have in common. Ella’s father (Luke Scholes) is a cop losing himself in the bottle, while Izak’s dad (Leighton Mason) doesn’t mind a drink himself, as a way of forgetting the heights he’s fallen from since his days as a dancer in Paris.

Under Streetlights: a story well told

There’s a power in doing the basics right. While there’s not a lot of surprises here – turns out their parents have a shared past of sorts that’s bound to cause problems, and both muso’s home lives aren’t exactly the kind that encourages them to stick around – this straightforward story is well told.

Each element is firmly established before moving onto the next, and even the big drama in the third act is kept to a plausible level. Some of the resolutions may seem a bit pat (long term troubles aren’t often solved quite so easily), but charitably they can be read as the characters taking a first step down a long road.

Likewise, the dialogue is occasionally a bit clunky, but the characters’ relative youth excuses some of it and the performances from the leads (both making their debut) carry the rest.

Under Streetlights: Ella and Izak

Ella’s the more energetic and driven one and Hull’s likable performance strikes just the right note. She’s running towards something with her music rather than using it as an escape; it doesn’t hurt that her singing’s strong enough to sell the idea that she actually could make a go of it.

Izak’s the more thoughtful one, his music more polished and layered. He’s the one who really does have something to escape from, but his art also links him back to his father. Harvey’s performance has more weight to it – he makes you feel he knows this is his one ticket out – but he’s still got enthusiasm when it counts.

Their music, both individually and together, lifts the film’s energy every time it’s played (both of the leads helped write the soundtrack). Nobody here’s bursting into song Wicked-style, but they carry their music with them and there’s a number of scenes where their songs – which address their various issues without being too on-the-nose – soundtrack their lives.

There’s a bit of romantic possibility early on (Harvey does an excellent job of reacting when he hears a song from Ella that might suggest her deeper feelings), but the pressures on them don’t leave much room for a Romeo and Juliet scenario. Which is to the film’s benefit: by focusing on their friendship, their creativity remains central.

By day the locations are solidly matter-of-fact, but cinematographer Andre Sawenko brings Alice Springs alive at night, finding some small magic in the carparks and quiet streets Ella and Izak wander down, playing music to each other.

It’s a sweetly powerful portrait of a budding friendship; luckily they both seem pretty good at this music thing.

Under Streetlights is in cinemas from 12 December. Opening night tickets at Hayden Orpheum Theatre in Sydney on 12 December are available online.

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