It’s hard for me to know what to make of The Little Hours. It, at times, feels like the consequence of too much unchecked postmodernity. The film is unapologetically unhinged in its portrayal of human behavior. It is based on a portion of Giovanni Boccaccio’s fourteenth century story collection, The Decameron, and it takes place in a convent during Medieval times. Filmmaker Jeff Baena casts the trio of Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci as nuns defeated by the monotony of their sacrificial life. When a runaway servant (Dave Franco) arrives at their door, the three women are sent into a tailspin of lust, envy and heresy.

The conceit of the film is that – despite living in a specific period – the characters speak in very direct, obscene language contemporary to your average Apatow comedy. This is sometimes clever and sometimes ponderous. Sometimes, it’s simply unfunny. The movie’s best laughs come from its stellar supporting cast which includes John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon and a very funny Fred Armisan. Compared to The Beguiled, this Summer’s other film about repressed female desire, Baena’s film feels more cynical and more honest. He doesn’t have Sofia Coppola’s complete distaste for sentiment, but The Little Hours‘s wall of irony feels just as resistant to audience acceptance. It’s hard to think about who a movie like this would be for. It seems steeled by an almost admirable level of defiance. The film’s brashness is both its charm and its curse.

 

Written and Directed by Jeff Baena