Every protagonist begins their own story in an ambiguous pigeonhole, wherein viewers can define the title character in the most relatable terms. The newest installment of Unsewn is no exception. The story follows a woman who never seems to achieve her dreams, consistently finding herself in a world that somehow feels incomplete. While previous segments explored her career changes, committed relationships, and several battles with addiction, this release attempts to delve deeper into the mind and heart of a woman who can never find the right direction to point her considerable tenacity. So, predictably, the main character leaves everything she knows behind her and moves to a different country to escape the confines of the routine.
At the beginning, her personal growth is palpable: her experiences reflect a series of uncomfortable interactions and halting forward momentum. She feels rooted in the idea that her expectations will all be met if only she is laughing and learning, dismissing a need for cogent ambitions. Conflict, joy, fear, or illness are not obstacles, only opportunities for broader horizons, as long as these two factors remain constants.
As it progresses, however, nothing else seems to happen. She retreats into a 90s-age montage of instant gratification and makeovers. For all intents and purposes, she is happy. The protagonist perseveres by utilizing a dogma of self-care rarely seen in characters undergoing radical change.
This is where the story's trajectory begins to devolve. It is meant to be a coming-of-age tale, full of deep personal reflection and adventurous flirtations with change. Instead, it falls victim to the oversimplification of an excessive number of cinematic tropes. She is the loveable weirdo, the smart-girl-turned-beauty, the sophisticated and well-traveled career woman, the domestic goddess living the nuclear dream. Most central to the plot, she is the daydreamer who suddenly finds herself in a fantasy adventure where her most treasured assets are those of the heart.
Her perception of herself, however, is bloated with a false sense of security. She believes that she is charming and optimistic, whereas the viewer sees her constant need for validation in practical and theoretical decision-making as naive and distracting. Realistically, while she may think she is unique, she only succeeds in reinforcing her own mediocrity. At no point does she do anything either terrible or great enough to distinguish herself among a diverse cast.
Even these secondary characters seem underdeveloped, personifying a sense of two-dimensionality. Intense interpersonal connections born from forced intimacy cause the heroine's confidence to occasionally come across as patronizing or egotistical. While there is riveting situational comedy towards these characters that inspire a more profound sense of self, the weight of the protagonist's bearing only serves to amplify the lead's insecurities and habitual obsessive tendencies.
The ending of the narrative deserts viewers, leaving them with far more confusion than contentment. Though the heroine still demonstrates a compelling character arc throughout the tale, primarily through chance encounter, her story is cheapened by a sense that she is, above all, too desperate for her happy ending. It is an ending that will never come as long as her sense of self-worth can only be defined by arbitrary association instead of a committed achievement. Contrary to a linear storyline, it is a too oft-repeated snapshot of a familiar insulated stasis where, though the heroin cannot atrophy, she also cannot ever flourish.
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