Parents' Guide to The Hater

This dramedy has a worthy message about politics, but it presents it in a slightly messy way. The Hater jumbles together many modern social issues -- climate change, political strife during the Trump era, cultural divides -- and tells a story with the message that good people who want to help fix society exist across the political spectrum. But to make that point, it tends to throw liberals under the bus in order to humanize conservatives, a move that undercuts its message (unless the goal is to indiscriminately humanize conservatives without critiquing the finer points of harmful extremist talking points).

The film shines, however, when connecting ecological grief to personal grief. We often throw ourselves into causes to escape or alleviate the pain of a personal trauma. For Dorothy, that meant firing back at the Texas town that hurt her and her late father, who wasn't able to live his life honestly. Through this lens, seeing Dorothy grow and embrace her roots and the political complexity of her neighbors is rewarding. It's when the film explores others' humanity, regardless of political affiliation, that its through line -- decent people can work together to make the country better -- rings truest.