Musicals have been a part of cinema history since the invention of talkies. They often revolved around elaborate song and dance numbers that explored its themes in a larger-than-life manner. In recent years, with the growing change in the song structure, the musicals have also been strikingly different. Unlike the unabashed liveliness of old-school Hollywood, they embrace the warmth and intimacy of striped-down vocal performances. The same is the case with Nicole Riegel’s “Dandelion” (2024), which follows a singer-songwriter struggling to build a career from her passion. The film shows her experiencing a passionate romance that leads her on a journey of self-discovery.
Spoilers Ahead
Dandelion (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“Dandelion” (2024) follows a singer-songwriter as she experiences a passionate romance that allows her to perceive a creative path beyond her familial woes. The film explores her soul-crushing journey as she tries to make a name for herself.
What happens in KiKi Lane starrer ‘Dandelion’?
“Dandelion” revolves around Theresa (KiKi Lane). She lives with her mother, Jean (Melanie Nicholls-King), who suffers from some health issues. Every day, Theresa spends time taking care of Jean while doing some gigs at a local bar. She has to keep her musical ambitions on hold to fend for her mother’s needs. However, her mother doesn’t take care of herself as she should. So, it adds to Theresa’s daily responsibilities. Alone in her room, she attempts to record another song, but the glittering success stories on social media only amplify her feelings of being stuck in her town.
One day, Theresa plans to sell her electric guitar at a local store. She plans to use the money for the expenses of her mother’s medical treatment. The store owner says she can play it for one last time. After doing so, she performs her daily gig in a room of a thankless audience. She returns home to see her mother smoking a cigarette and gets angry at her. Theresa talks about how she craves recognition for her music. For the same reason, Theresa makes money by playing music anywhere she can to build a fanbase. Jean says Theresa isn’t getting any recognition in their town. The argument reaches its breaking point, and Theresa decides to leave.
What does Theresa experience in South Dakota?
While working at the bar, Theresa comes across the leaflet for a musical event at a biker rally in South Dakota. At the time, she didn’t think it would help her much in her career. However, after leaving her home, she decides to head to South Dakota with a guitar by herself. At the event, she sees a relatively well-known band perform. After their routine, while walking on the stage, her guitar string breaks.
As if that’s not enough, the meager audience in front of her didn’t expect her performance either. So, they hardly show any interest. Still, she performs with utmost passion. In the middle of her performance, an audience member gets up to the stage, steals her guitar case, and runs away. Theresa follows but can’t catch him.
Soon after, Casey (Thomas Doherty), the frontman of the band, sees Theresa, follows her on the stage, finds her, and returns the stolen case. Their small talk takes a serious turn when she unexpectedly reveals her plans to leave the next day. So, he asks her to join him and his mates at the campground to jam with them.
Although hesitant at first, Theresa joins them since she doesn’t have any other plan. She learns where others come from and how they lead their lives. Casey and his friends talk about their ambitions regarding music. His friend believes music is a way of living in itself, but Casey wants to achieve something big, like selling an arena. Regardless, they all have been performing for almost a decade.
How does Casey motivate Theresa to reach her goals?
At the bonfire, Theresa introduces herself as Dandelion. She listens to them performing out of pure joy and no particular goal. It offers her a sense of camaraderie she often craved. The next morning, she wakes up in Casey’s RV and has breakfast with him. He takes her to a nearby place on his bike, and they hike together.
After she performs a song, he reveals that he has stopped playing in a band. He shares the true experience of working as a musician in the current landscape, where streaming pays them near to nothing. So, after spending a long period coming up with their music and recording, he started finding the process futile.
Casey reveals he is married but is not together with his wife anymore. He feels hopeless for chasing the dreams he once believed in. Regardless, he motivates Theresa to pursue her passion, knowing she hasn’t taken her first steps in that direction yet. He asks her to join him in performing her song, which is close to her heart. They come up with lyrics as they play and pour their heart into their performance. The words express their innermost fears and desires. Later that night, they almost share a kiss. But she pulls herself back. The next morning, she speaks with her friend over a call about Casey, who overhears her speaking fondly about him.
Dandelion (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Theresa end up with Casey?
Casey overhears Theresa’s kind words about their blooming relationship. Finally, they kiss each other and start traveling around as freewheeling lovers. Later, she joins him and his friends at a bar. His friend notices their mutual attraction. When Casey is away, he tells her that neither Casey nor he has any concrete plans after their next gig. That’s why he plans to return to his hometown. The next day, Theresa joins Casey on a bike ride. They camp out in nature, where she writes her new song. He finds her lyrics to be passive-aggressive jabs at his personality. Despite their creative differences, they have sex with each other.
Later, they perform Theresa’s song with pessimistic undertones. Although they offer an intense performance to their audience, they find themselves exhausted and wanting to confront the future of their relationship. Soon after, Theresa takes her first steps as a playback singer with Casey’s help. After that experience, she plans to perform on a stage with him and his friends. However, he doesn’t show up there at the last minute. So, she shows up at his hotel room and finds him with his wife and their child. Later, Theresa & Casey both weep by themselves, mourning the loss of their bond. So they do not end up with each other.
Does Theresa fulfill her goal of a musical career?
After losing Casey, Theresa returns home to her mother in Cincinnati. She seeks comfort in her familiar spaces. But the recent tour has changed her in many ways. Hence, she cannot tolerate a thankless audience anymore. During her performance in a local bar, she gets angry at a customer who keeps speaking on a phone when she performs. Subsequently, Theresa leaves the bar. Soon after, her outbreak turns into a viral clip. She opens up to her mother about how she doesn’t want to be a ’40-year-old troubadour’. Jean realizes that Theresa’s drive is profound and makes her acknowledge it.
After Jean’s words of motivation, Theresa takes her first steps to fulfill her goal of a career in music. At the end of “Dandelion,” we see Theresa perform on a bigger stage as a well-recognized singer. She takes on the moniker Dandelion for her career as a singer-songwriter. Despite an uncertain future, she takes a leap of faith and dares to be vulnerable through her work. After all that she has been through, her primal screams reflect her profound emotions that were hitherto kept buried. Through her performance, we sense her conviction and an increased confidence in being surrounded by peers and an audience who appreciate what she does.
Dandelion (2024) Movie Review:
At times, “Dandelion” feels like a John Carney film not directed by Carney. Not to discredit writer-director Nicole Riegel for her vision, but the film sounds and feels similar to Carney’s works, especially “Once.” Riegel’s “Dandelion” also follows a pair of struggling singer-songwriters who connect due to their deep passion for music. They sing songs that explore the near truth of the moment they are living. So, the lyrics feel deeply personal, something that you would share mostly in an intimate setting. However, the two lovers are in different stages of musical careers.
Casey has had a longer career that didn’t prove to be lucrative. So, he is losing hope in his pursuit and seeks it through Theresa’s/Dandelion’s passion. Their different worldviews are reflected in their lyrics. Her words convey her complicated emotions that feel refreshing and deeply personal. His words, however, convey an uncertainty that leads him to resort to cliched lyrics since he fears confronting himself. She wants to talk about the future, but he wants to stay lost in her moment.
Dandelion (2024) Movie Performance & Themes:
Through Casey & Theresa’s journeys, “Dandelion” explores the known struggles of a music career. Nicole Riegel’s direction imbues Theresa’s journey with an uncommon warmth that makes you ignore the conventional narrative choices. Emotionally, it works far better when it goes beyond the cliches of artistic struggles and shows the artists co-existing without any capitalistic inhibitions. Regardless, the script deserves praise for how it doesn’t resolve itself with “A Star is Born” cliches and becomes about its female singer taking charge of her career despite her emotional struggles.
KiKi Layne, the female lead of Barry Jenkins’ deeply evocative “If Beale Street Could Talk,” is equally enchanting in this soulful role. What could have seemed conventional in less capable hands comes across as refreshingly original thanks to Layne’s emphatic performance. As Theresa /Dandelion sings songs of pain and her wish to depart from her stagnated present life, Layne brings truthfulness to Theresa’s emotions. So, her performance becomes evocative beyond the scope of similar characters.
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