I'll Be Right There
“Characters like Wanda in I’ll Be Right There—a mom and soon-to-be grandmother—are seldom shown in movies having a sex life.”
Title: I’ll Be Right There (2024)
Director: Brendan Walsh 👨🏼🇺🇸
Writer: Jim Beggarly 👨🏼🇺🇸
Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸
Technical: 3.25/5
Eight years after their Emmy Award-winning collaboration on medical series Nurse Jackie, star Edie Falco and director Brendan Walsh reunite to make I’ll Be Right There. It’s a gem of a dramedy that’s character-driven and well made, full of wry humor and pathos. The family drama also introduces some modern twists, such as Falco’s Wanda navigating love with both women and men, but its core narratives about family dysfunction, and learning to let go as a parent, will feel familiar. Still, welcoming cinematography and capable performances lay the foundation for a solid story. In particular, Falco shines as a complex woman in her 60s who continues to learn new things about life and about herself at every turn.
Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES
I’ll Be Right There is female-driven, anchored by Wanda who serves as the glue between her mother Grace (Jeannie Berlin), ex-husband Henry (Bradley Whitford), and Wanda and Henry’s adult children Sarah (Kayli Carter) and Mark (Charlie Tahan). Scenes between women take on delightful comedy, especially when the cavalier Grace exasperates Wanda with her neuroses, or recounts wild tales of the past to Grace’s pregnant granddaughter Sarah. Add to the mix Wanda’s girlfriend Sophie (Sepideh Moafi), boyfriend Marshall (Michael Rapaport), and Wanda’s reacquaintance with former classmate Albert (Michael Beach), and the result is a world that feels completely gender balanced. Each relationship helps Wanda grow in different ways, as the script homes in on its female lead who’s learning who she is without these other people to define her.
Race: 3.25/5
Set in Pearl River, NY, where the population is 80% white, the film follows mostly white characters. People of color appear in minor and supporting roles: Albert, played by Black American actor Beach, has his own backstory, but he stays firmly in Wanda’s orbit and we never meet anyone else in his life. Similarly, Wanda’s girlfriend Sophie—played by Moafi who’s Iranian American—appears multiple times, but only as a stepping stone in Wanda’s growth. Minor roles go to a Black male therapist and East Asian bartender. Overall, the film’s approach to racial diversity is skin-deep, the topic never acknowledged or explored.
It’s also worth noting that about 1 in 7 of Pearl River’s residents in real life are Hispanic. For this cast of 14 characters, that’d mean a couple would realistically have been Latino. Don’t get me wrong, there’s hardly an expectation that movies, especially movies with such small casts, should mirror reality one-to-one. But I point it out because Latinos are consistently the most underrepresented ethnic group in Hollywood. It’s an unfortunate trend that hasn’t budged in years, probably because of unintentional casting exclusions like this one. It’s a “one-off” example that’s repeated over and over again, to the broader detriment of Latino representation (and viewers everywhere).
Bonus for Age: +1.00
With Falco 61 years old at the time of the film’s release, and her character’s mother played by Berlin (74), the film highlights women in later adulthood still growing and making mistakes. Furthermore, characters like Wanda—a mom and soon-to-be grandmother—are seldom shown on screen having a sex life. In contrast, I’ll Be Right There doesn’t shy away from tracking the ups and downs of Wanda’s relationships as she dates two people and is shown kissing, lying in bed with a lover, and talking about sex in a normalized way.
Bonus for LGBTQ: +0.50
Wanda has both a boyfriend and a girlfriend during this film, and it’s presented with naturalism. Sure, characters like Wanda’s daughter joke good-naturedly when they find out about Wanda’s girlfriend by calling her mom a lesbian, even as the film never explicitly labels Wanda as bisexual, gay, etc. Walsh and screenwriter Jim Beggarly use a light touch on this topic, preferring to portray queer identity rather than opine about it. It’s effective and also explores the experience of a queer woman over 60 years old—a group that’s practically invisible in mainstream movies.
Mediaversity Grade: B+ 4.33/5
With Wanda as focal point, other roles aren’t given much room to develop. Thus, characters of color like Albert and Sophie feel a bit thin. But I’ll Be Right There does beam a spotlight on a population that gets little to no onscreen attention—queer women in their 60s. Made imminently watchable by Falco’s neurotic portrayal of a very flawed, but very loving, woman, there’s no reason not to dive into this engaging story for an hour and a half.
Like I’ll Be Right There? Try these other titles that follow the personal journeys of women over 50.
Problemista (2023)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Nomadland (2020)