『A Love Found in Flight, Yet Too Warm to Let Go』
🎥 Film Overview
🎬 Title: AWOL (2017)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 United States
🎞️ Genre: Romance / Drama / Queer
⏳ Running Time: 85 min
📢 Director: Deb Shoval
🖋️ Screenplay: Deb Shoval, Karolina Waclawiak
📺 Platform: Tubi, Amazon Prime Video
👩💼 Cast: Lola Kirke – Joey
Breeda Wool – Rayna
🧩 Deep Story Exploration (Spoilers)
🏞️ Background of the Narrative: A Portrait of Trapped Youth
The film takes place in a small, economically depressed coal-mining town in Pennsylvania, which symbolizes the class and geographic confinement of the protagonist, Joey.
- Joey’s Dilemma: For Joey, who has just graduated from high school, this town is a dead end with no future. Her mother strongly urges her to join the military to learn a skill and escape, which appears to be her only way out.
- Social Realism: Through Joey’s life, the director realistically portrays the economic despair and lack of opportunity faced by young people in small-town America. This hopelessness becomes the backdrop that drives Joey to see military enlistment as her sole option.
❤️ The Fierceness of First Love and the Constraints of Reality
Rayna’s appearance in Joey’s life represents pure desire and emotional liberation—a force that shakes her logical plan of joining the army.
- Intense First Love: To Joey, Rayna is a captivating and vibrant older woman. Their relationship helps Joey realize her sexual identity and gives her, for the first time in her life, something she truly and desperately wants. Their love replaces the “planned future” with an “inevitable present,” throwing Joey into turmoil.
- Rayna’s Reality: Rayna lives a more complicated and difficult life. She is a mother of two and remains married to Roy, a poor and controlling husband. For Rayna, Joey may be an escape and a source of comfort, but she is also far more pragmatic—telling Joey to “go to the army and make your future.”
- Reflection of Class Conflict: Joey’s family and friends label Rayna as “trouble” and disapprove of their relationship. This reflects the social stigma and cycle of poverty surrounding Rayna, showing that their love is not just a moral dilemma but a socioeconomic barrier they must overcome.
⚖️ The Dilemma of Freedom and Devotion
The title “AWOL (Absence Without Leave)” symbolizes not just a military term, but also Joey’s psychological state and inner choices.
- Collision of Escape Routes: Joey faces two potential escape routes. One is the military—a safe, structured path sanctioned by society. The other is Rayna—a wild, unpredictable, yet passionate path of love. Torn between these, Joey struggles with where to place her devotion and freedom.
- A Destructive Decision: Joey ultimately joins the army but cannot suppress her feelings for Rayna. During leave, she makes an impulsive and self-destructive decision to run away with her. This act of “AWOL” symbolizes her willingness to abandon every effort toward a planned future in exchange for the desperate immediacy of love.
- Hope and Harsh Reality: Their journey toward the Canadian border initially seems to follow a romantic road movie cliché, yet the director continually injects the cold weight of money and reality—showing how fragile their dream truly is.
🎬 Indie Sensibility and a Realist Perspective
- The Lingering Open Ending: The film concludes with an uncertain ending as Joey appears to be caught at the border. This open conclusion invites viewers to question how much both women have sacrificed for love, leaving behind a lingering sense of hope entangled with tragedy.
AWOL is a raw and passionate portrayal of queer youth trapped by socioeconomic constraints. It sharply captures the collision between the ferocity of romantic love and the coldness of reality, posing a profound question about how love can redefine the course of one’s life.
🎯 Personal Rating (by Taste)
💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★
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