Frances Ha (2012)

A New York woman (who doesn't really have an apartment) apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer) and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as the possibility of realizing them dwindles.

Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. - IFC Films

Twenty-seven year old Frances Halladay, originally of Sacramento, California, is trying to make it in New York City as a dancer, she an apprentice in a modern dance troupe. Despite both being heterosexual, she and her best friend Sophie, who went to college together at Vassar, consider themselves to be like an old, married, lesbian couple who don't have sex with each other. Frances stumbles from one situation to another, both in her professional and personal lives, in her expectations and her abilities not always matching each other. In some respects, she stays true to her slightly off-kilter visions without the understanding that she doesn't have the abilities to meet those visions. In other respects, she sells herself short, such as she and a male friend, Benji, kidding each other that they are both undatable, while deep in their hearts they wouldn't mind dating each other. One thing that Frances does realize is that she has to work to survive in expensive New York, she unable to rely on her parents for that financial support. The question then becomes if Frances will be able to find that right balance for her life in New York. - Huggo