Kelsey Bascom's QUARTER is a hilarious, fearlessly honest indie comedy that finds humor in the most unexpected places, tackling the challenges of living with Type 1 diabetes with refreshing candor, an abundance of heart, and an enviable supporting cast of comedy veterans who capably deliver in scene after glorious scene.
Written, starring, and co-directed by Bascom (alongside co-director and producer Arnon Manor), QUARTER draws loosely from Bascom's own experiences growing up with Type 1 diabetes. Told through a wonderfully imaginative first-person narrative, the film follows Kelly (Bascom), a young woman navigating the awkward uncertainties of adulthood, romantic relationships, family expectations, and the everyday challenges of managing a chronic medical condition.
What makes QUARTER particularly refreshing is its refusal to define Kelly exclusively by her diabetes. Few films tackle, in such a positive light, the challenges of living with Type 1 diabetes, but Bascom's film finds the comedy in all the right places, allowing its protagonist to be vulnerable, irreverent, sexually curious, occasionally exasperating, and unapologetically herself.
Kelly's love life is hilariously covered here, tackling interoffice romance, creepy coworkers, and the often-bewildering realities of dating with the same kind of first-person imagination that made television's Ally McBeal such an inventive comedy. Bascom's imaginative flourishes give us an amusing window into Kelly's consciousness, where the boundaries between what she thinks and what she actually says are often delightfully, and hilariously blurred.
The supporting cast is one of the film's great charms, featuring Raven-Symoné, Ali Wentworth, Eric Roberts, Brooke Shields (who also executive produced), Breckin Meyer, Mindy Sterling, Tati Gabrielle, Arden Myrin, Dot-Marie Jones, and Matty Cardarople. It's an impressive collection of talent, and the film makes wonderful use of its ensemble.
Wentworth absolutely shines playing Kelly's mother, delivering a genuinely hilarious portrayal of a woman whose candid advice about sex, relationships, and maturity arrives with such jaw-dropping frankness that it's nearly impossible not to laugh. Wentworth is something of a revelation here, playing the matronly and epicurean mother opposite Breckin Meyer as Kelly's considerably more laid-back, equally epicurean father, whose relaxed disposition may or may not have something to do with his fondness for marijuana.
One dinner-table scene, in particular, stands out as one of the funniest stream-of-consciousness family discussions I've seen in some time. With Wentworth and Sterling trading wonderfully outrageous observations, the scene builds into such a gloriously uninhibited exchange that I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter. It's a marvelous example of what happens when a gifted ensemble is given material that allows its performers to embrace the absurdities of family life without restraint.
Yet beneath its irreverent humor, QUARTER has its heart firmly in the right place. Bascom and Manor direct with aplomb, deftly balancing the film's more outrageous comedic moments with an underlying sincerity that never feels sentimental or contrived. The film understands that accepting one's personal challenges doesn't necessarily mean overcoming them, but rather learning to live authentically, embracing one's imperfections, and bravely refusing to apologize for being different.
Perhaps more than anything, what makes QUARTER such a welcome surprise is how effortlessly it asks its audience to normalize living with Type 1 diabetes. Rather than presenting Kelly's condition as an obstacle to happiness or an invitation for sympathy, Bascom allows her protagonist the freedom to be as complicated, funny, flawed, and gloriously human as everyone around her.
QUARTER is a wonderfully assured comedy, bursting with personality, genuinely hilarious performances, and an infectious generosity of spirit. I can't recall a single joke that failed to land, nor a performance that felt out of place. It's a film that knows precisely what it wants to say, and has an enormously entertaining time saying it.