Little Birds (film)
| Little Birds | |
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Official 2011 theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Elgin James |
| Produced by | Jamie Patricof Alan Polsky Gabe Polsky |
| Written by | Elgin James |
| Starring |
Juno Temple Kay Panabaker Kate Bosworth Leslie Mann Kyle Gallner Carlos Pena JR Bourne |
| Edited by | Suzanne Spangler |
| Distributed by | Millennium Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Little Birds is a 2012 American film written and directed by Elgin James, and starring Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker. The film follows two girls that leave home to follow two skateboarders to Los Angeles and is loosely based on the life of director Elgin James. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, with Millennium Entertainment acquiring the North American rights to the film.
Lily (Juno Temple) and Alison (Kay Panabaker) are best friends living in a poverty-stricken California town near the Salton Sea. The two are complete opposites: Lily, is a suicidal rebellious girl who lives with her single mother, Margaret (Leslie Mann) while Alison is a cautious and careful girl who lives with her alcoholic dad. Alison finds solace under her uncle Hogan's (Neal McDonough) automotives and horses while Lily wants to flee her troubled home life as soon as possible. Together, the two girls venture into their secluded town and join skateboarding boys from Los Angeles: Louis (Carlos Pena), David (Chris Coy) and Jesse (Kyle Gallner) with whom Lily soon becomes smitten. Before the boys leave, Jesse kisses Lily and writes his number onto her arm, which upsets Alison.
Lily asks Alison to borrow Hogan's truck so they can meet up with Jesse and his friends in Los Angeles and Alison reluctantly agrees. When they stop at a convenience store, Lily saves Alison as she gets caught trying to return the goods Lily stole for them. The two soon find the three boys and Alison drives them to their place. While walking in the streets, Lily bumps into a hustler and she demands for an apology. When the man tries to reason with her, David hits him over head with a skateboard and the five run away, leaving Alison in shock. The group settles at the boys' abandoned rundown apartment where other homeless teenagers resides. Alison tries to warn Lily that Jesse might be more dangerous than they think but Lily refuses to listen. Alison shares an intimate moment with Louis but quickly rebuffs him when he starts groping her.
In the morning, Lily and Jesse break into an empty house where Jesse explains that it used to be his home until his family moved to Arizona but he decided to return to L.A. on his own. Meanwhile, Alison calls her uncle Hogan and apologizes for taking the truck. Hogan urges her to come home and Alison promises to bring Lily back. Back at the house, Jesse notices Lily's self-harm scars when they are kissing. He is intrigued by her suicidal demeanor and also reveals his scar from his chest to make Lily feel better. David discovers a dating website and convinces a hesitant Jesse to make Lily as a bait into scamming and stealing from older men. Lily agrees and meets up with an old man and lures him to their place where the boys, along with a hesitant Alison, threaten the man with a gun in exchange for money before setting him free.
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