American Woman (2019)

Deb, 32, is the mother of a teenage girl who is, herself, mother to an infant son. They live across the street from her settled sister's family and also regularly see Debra's mother. They're tight-knit, but Deb is definitely the black sheep screw-up of the family and her daughter Bridget looks to be following the same blueprint -- until, one night, Bridget just doesn't come home.

Most movies would focus on Bridget's disappearance as THE STORY. But here, it serves as more of a catalyst. Deb is suddenly acting mother to her grandson and scrambling to make her life and his better. Though it's both heartbreaking and triumphant, the film never makes the mistake of going too big on either of those. It's just life. It can be sad and terrible and sweet, but it's almost always manageable and, from the outside, fairly small.

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