Parents' Guide to

Lorelei

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Lots of mature material in drama about regret and reform.

Movie NR 2021 111 minutes
Lorelei Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In LORELEI, Oregon biker Wayland (Pablo Schreiber) is paroled from prison after serving 15 years. His buddies pick him up and give him an all-night welcome-home party before dropping him at a halfway house run by Pastor Gail (Trish Egan). He sleeps there and does chores while searching for a job. One night, Wayland spots Dolores (Jena Malone), his high school flame, at a support group for single mothers. They reconnect, and it feels like the old spark is still there. At first Wayland is shocked by the fact that Dolores now has three kids. But he eventually moves in and gets a part-time job, but the family still has a hard time. After a fight, Dolores jumps in her car and disappears. Can Wayland come to terms with this struggling but loving family?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This shaggy small-town drama, painted in shades of gray drizzle, comes across a bit too much like a frothy soap opera, but the vivid atmosphere and honest commitment to the characters keep it afloat. For large sections, watching Lorelei is like seeing a train wreck in slow motion, as characters make iffy decisions or simply suffer from bad luck or poor timing. Wayland loses his one meager job for selling drugs, and when he gets a packet of money from his biker gang, he's unwisely counting it when he runs into his parole officer. And Dolores doesn't exactly always make the best choices, either.

But, eventually, after Wayland gets the hang of the house and gets to know the kids, Lorelei narrows its focus on the core fivesome, and a more truthful dynamic forms, one more based on emotions than actions. Writer-director Sabrina Doyle, making her feature debut, tries a few visual and thematic flourishes, such as associating Dolores with the ocean and naming the three kids after shades of blue, as well as a few nightmare sequences for Wayland. These tend to work, lifting the movie out of its rut of grim realism. The final sequence (where the title finally comes into play) is a real thing of beauty -- and the movie's most hopeful scene.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Lorelei's depiction of violence. How did it make you feel? Does arguing have the same impact as physical fights/conflicts?

  • How is sex portrayed? What values are imparted? Is trust valued?

  • How are smoking and alcohol depicted? Is substance use glamorized? Are there consequences for drinking and smoking? Why does that matter?

  • How does Wayland try to improve himself after being incarcerated? What mistakes does he make? How does he recover from those mistakes? Do you consider him a role model?

  • Does Denim offer a positive representation of gender identity? Why is it important to see all kinds of diverse characters in the media we consume?

Movie Details

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