Jenny Tran and Brendan Coughlin star in Miv Evans’ perceptive comedy about aging.
Go ahead. Make me laugh with your little jokes about death.
Using “the funny side of euthanasia” as its tagline, Little Miss Sociopath sets itself up for immediate challenge. Frankly, ‘how dare you!’ was my knee-jerk reaction to the premise, but my primal objections quickly melted in the warmth of writer/director Miv Evans’ approach.
Clementine (Jenny Tran), known as Clem, knows all about grieving and loss. Her mother died at a young age, leaving Clem to care for her beloved father and cantankerous stepmother as a live-in companion in the family home. Soon, though, Clem suffers another loss, leaving her alone with her stepmother, who is slipping quickly into the depths of dementia.
As happens to any caregiver, Clem is soon exhausted, exacerbated by the simple truth that she and her stepmother never enjoyed a good relationship. When the older woman suddenly passes away, Clem feels that she can finally move on, only to learn that the multi-bedroom house was placed into a charitable trust and cannot be sold.
What’s an enterprising young woman like Clem to do? She decides to rent out the rooms to older tenants who don’t have long to live. And give them a push — or a shove — to their final resting place.
Admittedly, the plot description may give potential viewers pause. Yet filmmaker Miv Evans establishes a darkly comic in the opening scenes, thanks in part to the wry voiceover narration (by Jade Williams*), making it impossible to take offense at the morally dubious shenanigans that ensue.
Clem is accompanied in her legally-questionable activities by Adam (Brendan Coughlin), a similar-aged young man who attracts Clem’s interest from his first day at the pharmacy where they both work. Plagued by self-doubts about her own worth, thanks in no small part to her father and stepmother, Clem can’t believe that a dreamy new coworker would ever take a romantic interest in her, so his reciprocal attraction bolsters her waning self-confidence, even as it emboldens her to pursue her own worst instincts.
Really, Little Miss Sociopath reveals itself as a story about the evolving personality of the titular character. Clem learns to manifest agency in her own life, learning about herself, determining her own needs and wants, and realizing that she can define herself in any way that she chooses.
Jenny Tran gives a marvelous performance as Clem, capturing the comic, dramatic, romantic, and, yes, dangerous aspects of a multi-layered character who is not afraid of her own, sometimes deadly, personality. The film is funny, yet simultaneously empathetic about the perils of aging.
* Corrected to properly credit the very fine voice talent; updated 3/21/25.
The film releases Saturday, March 22 on Amazon, Google Play & YouTube Movies. Visit the official site for more information.
Dallas Film Now. 