Purity

Purity is a 2018 film written and directed by Chloé Zhao, a Chinese-American filmmaker known for her poignant and nuanced portrayals of the human condition. The movie serves as both a coming-of-age story and an intimate exploration of the complexities of relationships, identity, and family. The film centers around the lives of two siblings, Moses (played by Josh O'Connor) and Laramie (played by Logan Miller), who live in a rundown house in the San Fernando Valley. Moses works as a blender salesman, struggling to make ends meet in a dead-end job. He's stuck in a state of arrested development, unable to break free from the familiar yet suffocating routines of his childhood. Laramie, on the other hand, is a cam girl who lives an unconventional life. She earns money by performing for a global audience, her presence projected on screens across the world. Off-screen, she remains an enigmatic figure, her true self locked behind a facade of confidence and allure. While Moses's life is marked by inertia and frustration, Laramie's world is one of freedom and experimentation. She's in control of her online persona, crafting a carefully constructed image that both fascinates and repels. Yet behind the scenes, she's searching for authenticity, a deeper connection that eludes her in the sterile, anonymous environment of her performances. The relationship between Moses and Laramie is at the heart of Purity. The siblings are each other's only anchor in a chaotic world. Moses, still in his early 30s, has a childlike dependence on Laramie, whom he sees as a source of both protection and admiration. Laramie, meanwhile, finds solace in Moses's stability and reliability. Together, they form a bond that's both tender and enabling, as they help each other navigate the complexities of adulthood. Throughout the film, the siblings' lives intersect with a cast of supporting characters who embody the messy, disjunctive nature of modern life. There's Laramie's manager, a fast-talking wheeler-dealer who exploits her vulnerability for his own gain; Moses's coworker, a lovelorn salesman who shares a series of awkward encounters with Laramie; and the family's eccentric next-door neighbor, a wild-eyed hippie who dispenses advice and encouragement with equal abandon. In Purity, each character struggles to define themselves amidst the swirling chaos of the world. They grapple with questions of identity, morality, and purpose, as they stumble towards a fragile, hard-won understanding of themselves. And at the center of it all, Moses and Laramie cling to each other, tentative allies in a battle against the void. The film's title, Purity, is a reference to the idea that even in the midst of darkness and decay, there's still a potential for purity – for innocence, for beauty, and for redemption. It's this thread of hope that runs through Purity, a quiet yet unshakeable faith that even in the most compromised and compromised of lives, there's always a chance for renewal and rebirth. The cinematography in Purity, courtesy of Joshua James Richards, has a stark, unsettling beauty that captures the desolate, strip-mall landscapes of the San Fernando Valley. It's a world that's both familiar and foreign, a landscape of beige and brown concrete that's at once disorienting and recognizable. The camera moves freely through the Valley, capturing the eerie silences and abandoned vistas of this strange, disjunctive terrain. In the end, Purity is a testament to the transformative power of human connection. Moses and Laramie may be flawed and fragile, their lives marked by uncertainty and failure. But in each other, they've found a fragile sense of belonging, a fleeting taste of hope in a world that's otherwise unforgiving. Purity is a film about impermanence, about the transience of human experience. It's a reminder that our lives are fluid, ever-shifting, and that even in the midst of uncertainty, we're always one breath away from renewal, one heartbeat away from redemption.