Pearblossom Hwy

Cory Lawler is pretty much a screw-up. He records himself on video, excited about maybe getting on a reality show. But Cory’s far removed from reality. He gets high and fronts a metal band in a desert dive bar. Cory hopes for something out of life. His mom is dead, and he doesn’t know his dad. The muddled existential questions he asks himself are earnest. Meanwhile, Cory’s friend Anna leads a life of quiet desperation. An immigrant whose family wants her to become a U.S. citizen, she calls her grandma in Japan incessantly — though granny doesn’t seem to want to talk. Anna wanders along the highway, having sex with strangers in dimly-lit motels for money. Cory and Anna set out on a road trip to find his dad. But is there really anywhere for them to go? A depiction of alienated young lives in search of connection, PEARBLOSSOM HWY is the second in Mike Ott’s Antelope Valley trilogy. (In English and Japanese with subtitles) – B.B.