By Matthew Moorcroft

Strong Recommendation

• Directed by Jazmin Renée Jones
• Not Rated

When do we decide to be remembered? In the digital age this is a question that becomes more and more relevant with each passing day as technology becomes more powerful and easier to access. Digital footprints left behind by those long past are still available to see, for better and for worse, and the marks you make in those spaces can still likely be scrounged up by those with a discerning eye years and years later.

But even before the digital age, being remembered is a curious thing and you never really know what exactly you will be remembered for. In the case of Renée L’Esperance, the model used for the now famous icon of Mavis Beacon in the late 1980s, her very existence became a hot topic; a cultural icon without so much as doing more then doing her job for a mere $200 shoot. And for enthusiastic first time director Jazmin Renée Jones, she was proof that a black woman could be more then what society deemed her to be.

Unabashedly Gen Z and distinctly modern in presentation, Seeking Mavis Beacon is unique in it’s presentation in that becomes less about it’s subject as it goes and instead becomes a film of self-interrogation and reflection. Initially, there is a sense that this is a film about trying to find a lost piece of history that’s elusive and mysterious. Our own collective memories somehow made Mavis Beacon into a real person in some cases – a real Mandela effect – but yet the real person has never actually been seen. Does she even exist? Does she… even want to be found?

The last question begins to creep in as the film progresses, with Jones using a mix of real life footage, interviews, social media posts, and their own personal experiences outside of the documentary to feel the passage of time as their own mission looks more and more like a pipe dream. Jones already has a great handle on pacing and storytelling in general, but the real treat here is seeing her realize the thesis of her own film in real time, like she herself wasn’t even sure about the final statement until it naturally came. This does mean that Seeking Mavis Beacon does meander a bit in it’s middle stages as it explores numerous hefty topics, but part of that meandering is the point and the appeal – just go along for the ride with these girls.

And Jones herself clearly has a ton to say about this stuff too, and with good reason. Even beyond the obvious stuff like race, gender, and intersectionality, there is the general portrayal of women not just in the media but why they are traditionally used as AI chatbots over men. The constant mixture and framing of both technology and spirituality may be off-putting to some, but it adds to that multi-layered discussion of topics as it each one of those themes – explored in depth or no – feeds into each other for a film that ultimately asks the very simple but loaded question of “when is it ok to be forgotten?”.

For a first time documentary, it’s also immaculately presented. Several still tableaus in this are fantastic to look at, and the digital, handheld camcorder look of the picture give it an otherwise needed authenticity. This especially works when the film starts going into the personal lives of the cast in the second half, seeing how the search has affected them and the slow unravelling of everything as they realize they might not get the answers they want from their journey.

The right type of audience member is going to fall in love with Seeking Mavis Beacon, and personally I think that’s a testament to how much Jones is on the pulse of today’s current environment. It feels both personal in it’s content but also expansive in it’s ideas, both collaborative while also fully embracing being isolating due to the effects of the internet. And it promises a very, very bright future for Jones as a filmmaker, who I eagerly anticipate their next feature.