So I recently watched Frances Ha a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, it changed my life. I was honestly very reluctant to see this film until I was actually in my 20s living alone and trying to figure out my life because I thought it would be more reflective of the time I’d be in. I felt that if I watched it earlier I’d be longing for that period of my life to come faster than it could and I’d try to shape my life to be like it. Well, I watched it prematurely anyway and I guess I was right—though I wouldn’t say it’s in a longingly sad way but more a hopeful, exciting way.

Frances Ha is a beautifully shot film that depicts the ups and downs of its main character Frances, a woman in her late 20s living in New York City who is set on becoming a professional dancer. She struggles with blocks in both her career and her relationship with her best friend Sophie as she goes through a whirlwind of changes in her life: changing jobs, apartments, and friends. Frances has this deterministic view of her life, that her life must follow a certain trajectory with no deviations—and she tries to hold on to this view until it becomes absolutely impossible to do so. 

The first major upheaval in her life is when her best friend and roommate Sophie decides to move out and get an apartment with someone else. This is told to Frances right after she rejects the idea of moving in with her boyfriend, thinking that Sophie wants to live with her for a while and couldn’t bear to be without her. Soon we see that it is actually Frances who wants to stay with Sophie. This shows us a glimpse of what their relationship will be like throughout the rest of the film. Frances’s insecurities are continuously projected onto others, perhaps to make her feel more secure in her own life and to hide her weaknesses. 

Security in Frances’s life is something she wishes she had in many aspects: in her apartment, her job, and her relationships. When Sophie begins to get more serious with her boyfriend, you can see the differences in how she and Frances view their relationship. In Frances’s eyes, it’s the two of them against the world no matter what. But Sophie’s life is ever-changing and things get in the way. It is clear from her more stereotypical attitude towards life that she sees it as more traditional—a steady job and marriage, ready for the changes to come. With Frances set in her naïve viewpoint that life can stay the same forever, a rift between the two of them emerges. 

While Frances is in and out of jobs, trying to make ends meet, she continuously tries to hold on to her love of dance. Frances wants to be a famous dancer and work with the company she’s been with for a long time, but she slowly realizes that that may not be her path—she finally understands that life isn’t supposed to be the same forever and that you can’t stay stuck in your dreams. And although she tries and tries again, telling her friends that she’s going to be with the company (even at one point lying to say she is), it ultimately never happens for her. Other opportunities come up for her instead: she starts her own smaller dance group and gets an office job at her old studio, even though that’s not what Frances initially set her mind to. Viewers may see her consistent persistence as her being delusional, but I think it’s actually something else. 

There’s this overarching idea in this film that once you’re finally in adulthood, it’s a race to achieve all these “goals” by a certain time. These could include getting married, buying a house, or even job security. And in having this sort of race planted in people’s minds, it makes each person create a competition between themselves and the world over things that they mostly cannot control. We see this with how Frances and Sophie interact throughout the second half of the film. Whenever they see each other, they tell these white lies to each other to make it seem like their lives are going perfectly as planned. But in reality, they both are still figuring out what’s right for them. 

Overall, I’m really glad I watched Frances Ha and didn’t wait until I was twenty-something and spiraling in my apartment wondering what I should do with my life. I think it encapsulates that life is forever changing and messy, but still full of people you will love. And even though life may seem chaotic now, there will always be something better waiting for you.