Landing Up, a debut film by Israeli director Dani Tenebaum starring and co-produced with him by his wife Stacey Maltin, is a sensitive portrayal of a young homeless woman who dreams of having her own home, but who in the meantime is forced to degrade herself continually just to find warm places to sleep at night.
Sexual relations are the paltry coin of her realm; for the simple opportunity to sleep on a cot in a shelter she is required to give oral sex to the superintendent, who also steers those who stay in his shelter to low-paying day jobs. If she won’t give in to his demands, there are other desperate young women who will.
The young woman changes her name almost every time she meets another human being; at least something about her can be kept private. We come to know her first as Callie, then Chrissie, then Katie Jo, and we are aware that she has used many other names in her search for a night’s sleep and warmth.
What her back story is we really don’t know, but we intuit that she came from a far nicer environment than that in which she lives. For one, when she goes home with someone, she almost obsessively uses the shower, not only to clean off the dirt of the street, but perhaps the psychological grime as well.
Further, we know that she loves to cook, especially eggs, which give her a sense of renewal those mornings when she can stay in her temporary lodgings instead of being turned out onto the street.
She and shelter friend Cece, played by E’dena Hines, the granddaughter of Morgan Freeman in her last role before her 2015 murder, try to save up money to rent an apartment together, which is nearly impossible for anyone without a steady job in Manhattan. When either of them does accumulate some cash, it is likely to be stolen by other homeless people, whose sense of honor diminishes as the hunger in their bellies grows.
Along comes David (Ben Rappaport) who is playing frisbee in the park with his friend and roommate Avi (Jay DeYonker.) Diving for a frisbee, he trips over the unsuspecting Callie, who is reading a book under a tree. They begin to flirt, then go out as a threesome with Avi, and for a while, she lives with him, never telling him that she is not the would-be actress he thinks her to be. Avi, resenting her presence, and begins to snoop on her, trying to understand why she moved in without any regrets at leaving her own so-called roommate.
Viewers wonder what would happen if she told David the truth? Would he drop her immediately, or would he continue to be fascinated by her? We wonder if this is another, seamier version of Pretty Woman. Before the movie reaches its conclusion, however, we are shocked as we watch a felony being committed. Could it be that our assumptions and hopes about how everything should turn out were all wrong?
Landing Up will be released on DVD, digital and video-on-demand (VOD) on May 15.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World