Babak Jalali’s Fremont is a visual and emotional feast, following a young Afghan woman trying to find bliss for our troubled past.
Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) is a former translator for the American army in Kabul, a job that allowed her to leave the troubled country but not without the strong feeling of guilt that follows her everywhere. Donya now lives by herself in Fremont, California in an apartment complex filled with Afghan immigrants. When she’s not commiserating with her next door neighbours, she’s attempting, and failing, to fall asleep in her small apartment.
She travels far out of Fremont to work at a Chinese-owned fortune cookie factory, where she writes the abiding messages that will eventually find their way into the cookies. There she creates others’ fortunes but still can’t help but feel absent in her life. Soon she finds Dr. Anthony (Gregg Turkington), a local therapist who she hopes will give her sleeping pills so she can finally sleep away her problems.
Stunning black-and-white photography accompanies Donya’s journey as she attempts to figure out her life. Many locked off shots bring depth and stillness to such a degree it’s a strange wonder Donya can’t find peace. Through dry humour and idealised conversations, Donya treks through the world she feels so lost in. The film finds a sweet spot between deadpan and romantic as our heroine’s face rarely cracks even the tiniest of smiles, even though she’s surrounded by people willing to give her advice and love. Whether it’s her boss at work or her bounty of neighbours, they all drop life-affirming advice that even a therapist would gawk at. Ironically, the therapist is the one that seems the most out of touch as he can only relate to the world through a Jack London book he has seemingly memorised.
It doesn’t matter who accompanies Donya, she is stuck in a purgatory no sleeping pills will fix. Anaita Wali Zada does a fantastic job as a first-time actress, as her motionless face often says so much. Her modest yet delicate performance reaches into all aspects of the film as you never know what she is going to do next. The most daring of her expeditions is when she finally decides she will put her phone number in one of the fortune cookies, a desperate attempt at connection.
Fremont works best when it’s sliding between ambiguity and realisation. An excellent final act introduces Daniel (Jeremy Allen White) as a grizzled yet charming mechanic who Donya meets at a pit-stop in the middle of nowhere California. White’s performance is equally isolating as Zada’s and starts to bring meaning to the coiling story so far.
While Fremont’s writing can make it feel like Donya’s journey is a bit easy at times, it avoids the many trappings of an undeveloped or overly complex narrative. It often finds a sweet spot between romanticised and reality. How the camera pops through the space creates a soothing feeling that even the keenest directors sometimes fail to see. It’s a subdued story that spins a tale of isolation and searching, enveloped in a beautiful chrome world.
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