Year: 2024

Runtime: 119 minutes

Writer/Director: Haley Elizabeth Anderson

Actors: Kota Johan, Yuri Pleskun

By Sarah Manvel

Debut filmmaker Haley Elizabeth Anderson had two different ideas for the kind of movie “Tendaberry” should have been. One was an impressionistic tone poem about what it was like to be a broke and lonely young Dominican-American woman in the Brooklyn of 2021 and 2022, finding connection with others only through music and historical footage online. The other was a linear, only-in-America love story, between the broke and lonely woman, Dakota (Kota Johan), and her equally broke young Ukrainian boyfriend, Yuri (Yuri Pleskun) as they struggle to make their way in the Brooklyn of 2021 and 2022. Well, until their paths are separated. Tendaberry is not a complete success, but its rawness and surprising ability to create sensations in the audience means it’s more impactful than it seems.

Part of the trouble is Yuri and Dakota are so wrapped up in each other their time together doesn’t involve anybody else. Dakota has a guitar and big dreams of making it as a singer, but those are mostly expressed for her singing for tips on the subway. She’s good enough tips come through, but her main job is at a depressing discount store, where Yuri works in the stockroom. He’s one of those intelligent men who generally prefer silence, though he’s clearly deeply in love with Dakota and enchanted by her talents. But they really are broke, so things are precarious. Their apartment is large but the radiators are broken, so they must spend a lot of time huddling in front of the open stove. Their free time is spent wandering around the city admiring it and each other. Then Yuri’s father in Kyiv has a heart attack, and he must return to help out his family. Once he goes Dakota falls into a depression that is not improved by some startling personal news, nor do her attempts to stay connected with Yuri over videocalls make her feel any better. He’s half a world away, speaking a language she doesn’t know and unable to help her in any real way at all. She is, for all practical purposes, alone. 

At these moments the tone poem side of the movie comes to vivid life. Dakota is spending a lot of time watching the online videos made by Nelson Sullivan, a videographer who recorded his daily life in New York City of the 1980s until his death from AIDS. She relates these pictures of a past New York to her present life in the same spaces, and wonders in voiceover what record of her existence there will be after she too is gone. But for some reason Ms Anderson chose to have the two major events of Dakota’s year happen offscreen, which somewhat hampers the power of the plot. It takes away from Ms Johan’s performance that we didn’t get to see her react to either of those things in the moment. The fact that Dakota is also not as isolated as she thinks is also held back too long, as is her decision to finally begin contextualising herself within the Dominican community in Brooklyn, or at least with the cheerful young black men she often sees around. There are too many scenes of Dakota unhappy at work, or of wandering silently on the boardwalk. Even the way in which she attempts revenge against a shady real estate broker is done awkwardly. This sounds like a condemnation of Ms Johan as an actress, but that doesn’t seem to be the reason this part of Tendaberry is so formless.

Until the last five minutes, that is. Right before the end the movie snaps into place with an incredible finale, demonstrating a power and confidence through Stephania Dulowski’s editing and Ms Johan’s subtle voiceover that the rest of the film sorely lacks. It’s too little too late, but it’s clear that Ms Anderson has enormous talents that only need a sharper polish in order to truly shine. Tendaberry should be an excellent calling card for her and Ms Johan both.