‘Showing Up’ Review: Exhibitionism
River of Grass, Reichardt has specialized in quietly moving, minimalist dramas that probe at questions of class, friendship, and survival on the margins of both contemporary and 19th century America.And Williams has been her most rewarding collaborator, giving a career-best performance as an out-of-luck drifter in 2008’s indie hit Wendy and Lucy before starring in the Oregon Trail period piece Meek’s Cutoff (2011) and the stirring anthology film Certain Women (2016). In Showing Up (★★★★☆), Reichardt’s latest sharply woven drama (co-written, as usual, with Jonathan Raymond), the actress reaffirms the richness of this creative partnership with an achingly real performance as a small-time sculptor navigating the indignities of daily life.Williams is near-unrecognizable as Lizzy, a frumpy, quietly struggling young artist whose face seems contorted in a perpetual pout of frustration.