Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic, and to the best of my knowledge, this film does not have audio description.

It’s that time of year when I’m getting a barrage of screeners. Everyone wants awards attention and votes. I had to take the time out when a rep offered me Lilly, because it stars Patricia clarkson. I knew nothing. I didn’t IMDb the film until after. then, I saw this thing is just floating on Netflix. It just has such a low profile, I’m not sure anyone noticed. When I asked my Alexa device about it, she thought first I meant a 10 minute short with the same name. That’s the sad state of affairs.

Patricia Clarkson. I should just say that to you, and you should just go check it out. Clarkson is one of many actresses we take for granted, a fact that becomes more pronounced as they age, and take lead roles in indies. A previous Oscar nominee for Pieces Of April, Clarkson has filled her career as a reliable go to actress for anything. Here, at least she’s the lead.

This is the story of Lilly Ledbetter, who had to fight discrimination and harassment while employed by Goodyear, eventually launching into a court battle that will change the laws on the books.

I had no idea what this was, who she was, how important all this is, but Lilly is impossible not to root for. My blind ass sat there with no audio description thinking these old timey “you took a man’s job” came from like the 60’s, perhaps the 50’s? I mean, didn’t we clear out that nonsense in World War II when women had to fill in for men who were at war? But no, sadly, this case is far more current. IN fact, the gender equity pay that gets on the books finally passed during the Obama administration. Prior to that, there were loopholes men just supported that allowed women to be paid less.

Lilly becomes the only supervisor level woman for Goodyear, but is also forced to sign an NDA to keep her from sharing her pay with her colleagues, and vice versa. She will later learn how much less it really is, and that is the change she leads.

John Benjamin Hickey plays her husband,and he’s a bit of a multi purpose tool of an actor as well, disappearing into films. he does some nice work as well, and his character goes through some heavy stuff.

I wish Rachel Feldman had trusted in Lilly’s story to just make a straight narrative feature, without some of the unnecessary trappings. At the core of this is a powerful story with a cause impossible not to root for, and a lead actress knocking it out of the part. For some reason, we shift into docudrama as real life women comment on the impact of Lilly and her case during the film. That, and Rachels’ overuse of power ballads, and it feels like someone saw the first cut and didn’t like it. But, what is not to like? It was probably some guy, who was once again threatened by a female presence.

This film didn’t need the extra stuff. Clarkson does more than enough here, especially for how many years she’s expected to play Lilly. she’s a mother in the beginning with kids, and by the end, a grandmother who worked at a company for just shy of 20 years, and followed her lawsuit through the initial ruling, an appellate court, and the Supreme Court. But she’s still not done, and has to lobby Congress to change the laws. A lot of time must have passed.

The extra choices were unnecessary. If I ask you to bake me a cake, and you do, but also bake me a pie… great. I didn’t ask for it. That’s this, which has the ability to spinoff a documentary about Lilly, and let this stay a narrative feature.normally, when real people interject, it is at the end. It is such an odd stylistic choice, and likely why the film has flown under the radar.

Lilly platforms an important and rousing story, and features a knockout performance from Patricia Clarkson.The film may have flaws, but she is impossible to not root for.

Fresh: final Grade: 7.1/10