''Mickey and the Bear'' is a 2019 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Annabelle Attanasio Anna Lucia "Annabelle" Attanasio (born May 11, 1993) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her role as Cable McCory in ''Bull'' (2016–2018). Early life Anna Lucia Attanasio was born in Los Angeles on May 11, 1993, the ...

. It stars

James Badge Dale James Badge Dale (born James Badgett Dale, May 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Chase Edmunds in '' 24'', Robert Leckie in '' The Pacific'', Trooper Barrigan in ''The Departed'', Luke Lewenden in '' The Grey'', Eric ...

Calvin Demba Calvin Arron A. Demba is an English actor, writer and director. He is known for his roles in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2011–2012), the E4 series ''Youngers'' (2013–2014), and the BBC One drama ''Life'' (2020). Early life Dem ...

, Camila Morrone,

Ben Rosenfield Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2013–2014). He starred in leading roles in ''Greetings f ...

and

Rebecca Henderson Rebecca Henderson (born June 4, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lizzy on the Netflix series ''Russian Doll (TV series), Russian Doll'' and for her roles in independent films ''Appropriate Behavior'', ''They Remain ...

. It had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 9, 2019. It was released on November 15, 2019, by

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

Plot

Mickey Peck is navigating through both life in her hometown in

Anaconda, Montana Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, Montana, Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintle ...

, and her loving but volatile relationship with her single, veteran father Hank, for whom she has to take responsibility. Despite searching for her own identity and independence, Mickey is determined to keep her household afloat.

Cast

as Hank Peck *

as Wyatt Hughes * Camila Morrone as Mickey Peck *

as Aron Church *

as Leslee Watkins

Production

Mickey and The Bear began principal photography on August 20, 2018. Production was filmed in and around

. Other locations including at

Georgetown Lake (Montana) Georgetown Lake is a reservoir in Deer Lodge and Granite Counties, Montana. The reservoir impounds the North Fork of Flint Creek and lies at an elevation of just west of the Anaconda Range. The reservoir is a popular recreational area with ca ...

, located 14 miles outside of Anaconda. The scene in which Wyatt and Mickey are sitting at shore near the river and where Hank jumps in the river, was filmed at the Johnsrud Park near the Blackfoot River in Missoula County. After 5 weeks, filming was completed on September 23, 2018.

Release

It had its world premiere at

on March 9, 2019. The film had its international premiere at the ACID (Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema) programme section at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, which runs parallel to the main film festival. During its festival run ''Mickey and the Bear'' picked up a series of awards, including Best Narrative Feature at the New Hampshire Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize at the

Independent Film Festival of Boston The Independent Film Festival Boston is a not for profit film festival in Boston, Massachusetts. History The Independent Film Festival Boston (also known as IFFBoston or IFFB) was created in 2003 by the non-profit organization the Independent F ...

, and the Audible Storyteller Award for Attanasio at the

Montclair Film Festival Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair Film is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit that organizes the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF). The festival is held between mid- to late- October in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works fr ...

. Shortly after its premiere at SXSW,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on November 13, 2019.

Critical reception

''Mickey and the Bear'' received positive reviews from film critics. It holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on reviews, with an average of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Brought to life by a breakout performance by Camila Morrone, ''Mickey and the Bear'' finds affecting drama at the crossroads of a young woman's coming-of-age journey." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film holds a rating of 79 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 9614440 2019 films 2019 drama films 2019 independent films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American drama films American independent films English-language drama films English-language independent films Films shot in Montana Utopia (company) films