While searching for something to watch last night I came across this and immediately thought with a name like that it's gotta have something to do with Mormonism.

While I no longer attend, I was born, raised and spent most of my life a true believing Mormon. And all good Mormons know Provo is important because it's home to the churches missionary training center. (MTC)

At the age of 19 thanks to years of indoctrination that started when I was a very small child I "volunteered" to serve a mission and spent a few weeks at the MTC myself.

For the next two years the church controlled every aspect of my life including...

My money, because you and your family…

The direction is definitely in line with “Indie” movie, but it does achieve a pretty great chill vibe when needed, a grimy vibe when needed, and lands the ups and downs of practical road trips. 

A rakish ex-Mormon gets a jolt when an estranged step-sibling comes to tell her that her father, an abusive hardcore Mormon, is dying and hopes to reconcile. A fuck buddy offers to go with her on, if not prods her towards, a road trip to seek some closure. 

It’s an inherently sad basis for a road trip, but there’s a lot of levity in spite of it, a lot of sweet moments peppered along the way. Yet the sweet doesn’t come without sour, and the…

EXMO GANG RISE ‼️

First of all… who knew the local library was so goated ? I went in this morning to print some stuff and immediately spotted two movies from my watchlist. They have a lot of criterion collection stuff also which is really awesome. This library is also where I went to print off documents and find a notary to get my records removed from the church two years ago. I will watch any exmo content because it’s such a weird little niche to be apart of and it’s super weird but cool to see that represented on screen. I thought this was a really good low-budget directorial debut from Emma Thatcher. I’m a big fan of her…

the illinois to utah summer roadtrip is such a sense memory for me and watching this brought it all back in a really tender way. the sun glaring down on the cornfields, all of the green, the grassy rest stops with weird statues, the sticky air at the gas station. it's so synonymous with childhood to me. 

i never know what to expect with films about mormonism. regardless of the side of the true blue to exmo spectrum they fall on, they usually just aren't well done. and if they are, the themes and takeaways all feel the same. 

in Provo, liz doesn't like children. the concept of family feels hollow when she was raised in a religion that touts…