She calls herself Patti Cake$ or Killa P, is actually called Patricia Dombrowski (Danielle Macdonald), and is called Dumbo by most people. But most people don‘t know her, don‘t know the talent she has with word play, rhyming, and improvising. Patti doesn‘t have an easy life. She manages the household mostly by herself. The money that her mother Barb (Bridget Everett) brings home isn‘t enough to live on. So Patti stands behind the counter of a karaoke bar at night where Barb can feel like a star for a moment while complaining about her unrealized rock star career. Patti secretly dreams of being a rap star and her friend and MC Jheri ( Siddharth Dhananjay) keeps encouraging her to show her talent. When the two meet introverted musician Basterd (Mamoudou Athie) it looks like their time has come. PATTI CAKE$ is the debut of Geremy Jasper and you can tell it‘s a passion project. He wrote the screenplay as well as the extremely funny lyrics which Patti fires at everyone who comes her way. Australian Danielle Macdonald is convincing and is completely sympathetic. She learned how to rap and do a New Jersey accent for the role, because PATTI CAKE$ is also a love-hate letter to Jasper‘s home state and the residents that dream of the sky scrapers on the horizon: New York. Jasper‘s Jersey is characterized by poverty and condemned buildings. The soundtrack, which Jasper created together with his friend Jason Binnick, is memorable and the characters of this charming musical comedy are heart-warming.

Lars Tunçay (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy