‘Rare Objects’ is Katie Holmes’ third directorial venture. Earlier, she had directed two drama films with deeply moving storylines. Rare Objects deals with a similar subject matter that is bound to pluck your heartstrings.
Starring Julia Mayorga in the lead role, it tells the story of Benita Parla, a young woman who seeks to embark on a new life after her emotional struggle at a rehab center. Holmes plays Diana, whom Benita met in the same place and grew fond of. The screenplay is written by Holmes herself, along with Phaedon A Papadopoulos. The film is now available to watch on AMC+.
*Spoilers ahead*
Rare Objects (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is Katie Holmes’ Rare Objects about?
Benita Parla (Julia Mayorga) is a young woman who recently got out of rehab. She struggles to find an emotional connection with strangers as she once used to. Her mother, Aymee (Saundra Santiago), is unaware of her time in rehab. But she still welcomes Benita with open arms and a warm hug. She talks about a family friend, Maria, who got deported because she failed to report her address change. Through that, we get an idea of their background and a possible source of Benita’s misery.
Benita starts staying at her mother’s place and tells her she is taking some time off from school. Aymee finds it strange, considering Benita mentioned loving what she did. In immigrant families, education is always an important factor. It helps one elevate one’s living conditions, which is why a study break/gap is often seen in a negative light. Still, Benita tries to reason with her mother. We sense darkness in her past that she isn’t much open to sharing with her mother.
What happened in Benita’s past?
In the past, Benita had gone on a date with Chris (Jimi Stanton). They hit it off right away and enjoyed the conversation. She talked about her practical curriculum of economics. He talked about his fascination with the field of finance. After this breezy, light-hearted chat, she suffered a sudden shock. He followed her to the bathroom and sexually assaulted her.
In the present, Aymee tries to get Benita to open up. After all, despite her difference of opinion, she deeply cares for her. The next morning, Benita goes out to meet her old boyfriend. She struggles to digest the fact that he has decided to move on and get into a new relationship. She walks around the city, asking around at different places if they have any jobs for her. But unfortunately, she cannot find any. Aymee says Benita should pray despite her not being as religious.
The next day, Benita meets her friend Angie (Olivia Gilliatt) and walks around the city with her baby. She helps Benita learn about a job at Winshaw and Kessler, an antique store. Hearing that, Aymee decides to help her enhance her appearance so that she can impress her employer with her presence. Despite Benita’s slight nervousness, Aymee helps her with makeup and also boosts her spirits.
The next day, Benita goes to the store to meet its manager Pete Kessler (Alan Cumming). He guides her through what the shop has and what her job entails. He wants her to be a good storyteller to convince potential customers to make a sale. With antiques being notoriously difficult to sell in the present times, he still gleefully and passionately explains its details. Benita impresses him with her skills and gets the job.
After the interview, Benita meets her mother to learn that she just lost her job as a sewing professional. We get another look at how people are made to feel outdated with the progress in the changing times. At home, Benita asks her mother to apply for citizenship, but Aymee refuses. Instead, they drink away their joys and sorrows while playing cards.
It brings back Benita’s memories at the rehab. She had met Diana Van der Laar (Katie Holmes) and got quickly infatuated with her. She also taught Diana how to sew, which she learned with interest. Diana told her she had stayed there for years and found no relief from her mental health struggles. She said that her mom put her in there.
In the shop, Benita learns the ropes of how to impress their nostalgic and wealthy customers into buying their items. Pete patiently gives her lessons about selling their obscure antiques. Despite the job, Benita gets paid considerably lesser than what her economics education could have made her.
Soon after, Lara arrives at the shop with her brother, James (David Alexander Flinn), and buys two necklaces. James seems like a kind cheerleader for wanting her sister not to feel terrible about herself. The siblings share stories of their upbringing, but Lara and Benita do not reveal that they were in rehab together. Instead, Lara makes up a lie that they met at an auction. Benita goes along with it.
The script keeps shedding light on different expectations of life in the two generations. While Aymee wants Benita to have a better life than what they had, Benita seeks a simple life. Benita embraces her job, and it lets her enter a past era by being in the presence of all the age-old objects. She and Diana bond over this new topic of discussion. They also confess to being happy for being able to hang out together again.
Later, Peter invites her to the opening night of a ballet concert. But she refused, saying she had another commitment. We see her struggle to reconcile with her traumatic past and what happened on her date with Chris. She still meets Diana at a bar and feels more open to speaking to her. They have a shared understanding of the scary feeling of trying to lead a so-called normal life. They spend the night at Benita’s place, discussing their past relationships and aspirations.
Besides her friendship with Diana, Benita also befriends James and has a great conversation with him. Diana calls James her best friend. In the middle of their conversation, Diana suddenly climbs outside the window to see the full moon and gives Benita a scare. After a few weeks of bonding outside the rehab, Benita finally tells the trauma that the monster left her with at the bar. Diana manages to relieve her stress. She also notes how their generation of women were taught how to be desired but not how to be loved.
Later, Benita attends a work-related event. Since she feels lonely, she gets out to smoke. That’s when she meets Ben Winshaw (Derek Luke), who has just arrived in the town. He makes her feel less alone and more confident. Once he leaves, she goes back inside and dances along with James. She also joins him to play the piano and finds a moment of romantic connection. Diana notices them having fun together and feels a pang of sadness. She succumbs to her vice of drugs and gets intoxicated.
Benita notices Diana’s struggle and puts her to sleep. Then she strolls with James around the city and engages in a meandering chat about their lives. James talks about his plan to go to Switzerland for a few exhibitions. The next day, she learns that Ben is also related to the shop where she works. Peter introduces them to each other. Later, he talks about the Japanese practice of kintsugi, representing the idea that beauty can be found through cracks or imperfections.
Ben tells Benita about his family living in North Carolina, where he is a traveler. ‘To strive, to seek, and to find,’ she says. He recalls the lines written in one of Tennyson’s books. She notes she loves his work. Soon after, Diana meets her at the shop and takes her out. She opens up about her recent emotional struggles where she keeps trying to do better but keeps facing rejections. Benita decides to cheer her up.
Later, Benita meets Peter, who opens up about his late partner, who was a wonderful dancer and a perfectionist. She gives him company while he speaks about his feeling of brokenness. Subsequently, she tries to bring forth her newfound understanding of the new experiences in her life. She tells her mother to meet the one she longs to. Later, Ben says that she need not hide an art’s actual idea under the guise of salesmanship. He believes one should be honest in speaking about art.
Rare Objects (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
James returns from Switzerland and meets Diana. Besides talking about the successful exhibition, he also speaks about a special someone he found. She recounts his past failed relationships where she believes his partners were ungrateful for how good he was. He suddenly bursts out in anger and realizes it made her get emotional. We get a sense of their complicated dynamic where the web of need and desire keeps getting tangled and untangled to the point it leaves them in an eternal mess. The bright spot is that they still don’t lose hope in each other.
On the other hand, Ben and Benita bond better over time. Diana comes up to the shop to meet her. Once they go out, Peter asks Ben to be gentler with her. Meanwhile, Diana and Benita spend the day having fun. They go back to Diana’s place to learn that her mother has decided to send her back to rehab. Benita tries to do all that she can to emotionally support her friend. She starts working at the shop as usual, with her new routine. One day, James meets her to share something. Peter and Ben notice her break down in front of him.
After that incident, Benita stops working at the antique shop. Ben finds a way to meet her and tries to make her give another chance to lead a livelier life. More than that, he wants her to be open to possibilities rather than rejecting them based on anxieties. He does not want her to stop living due to the fear of people’s judgments or stress. Angie also does her part to make her friend get out of the rut. Eventually, Benita decides to go back to working at the antiquities shop, where Peter and Ben give her a warm welcome.
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