Tribeca Film Festival 2025 Review: “Bird in Hand”

By Morgan Roberts

Director: Melody C. Roscher
Writer: Melody C. Roscher
Stars: Alisha Wainwright, Christine Lahti, James Le Gros, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Jeffrey Nordling, K. Todd Freeman
Runtime: 87 minutes
Year: 2025

In Melody C. Roscher’s feature directorial debut, “Bird in Hand,” identity, the thorny mother-daughter relationship, and internal reconciliation are explored. Bird (Alisha Wainwright) is at a crossroads. Her partner has just proposed, and in the wake of this life altering moment, she runs to her mother’s, Carlotta’s (Christine Lahti) home. As she begins to look toward her future, Bird must begin to reckon with her past and her history. Through her own confusion and search for self, Bird meets and befriends Dennis (James Le Gros), her mother’s neighbor who is currently renovating - and PR-spinning the history of - a former plantation. As Bird maneuvers through these important relationships, she begins to learn more about herself, confronting her maybe less-than-flattering characteristics and finding ways to give herself grace.

“Bird in Hand” is able to capture the universal flailing many young women encounter at a monumental life precipice while feeling incredibly personal. Bird’s resilience in the face of adversity, especially when self-made, gives layers to her complexity as a character. Wainwright shines, never shying away from Bird’s messiness and imperfections. It makes her performance truly compelling to watch. Wainwright has to balance and navigate Bird’s yearning for sense-of-self with her unflattering coping mechanisms, coping mechanisms which may have previously aided her but currently no longer serve her.

Wainwright has the challenging task of allowing audiences to see Bird’s heart, her insecurities behind her prickly exterior. It is a more interior performance, but Wainwright clearly knows when to let that cracks appear to allow those vulnerabilities, Bird’s nuances and layers, to really come through. Moreover, it is captivating to watch Wainwright and Lahti build a thorny, yet compassionate mother-daughter relationship. The mother-daughter relationship is such a vital and particular interpersonal relationship, these actors give different hues and layers to it. Bird clearly seeks approval from her mother, and Carlotta struggle to balance empathy and tough-love. These two women evidently have a deep bond, however, there are moments they struggle to connect. Is it out of fear of rejection? Fear of disappointment? Fear of not doing the right thing? A murky, muddled combination of that and more? Wainwright and Lahti draw you in to search for the unspoken amongst these two in a really compelling way.

Elevating these performances is the writing and direction from Roscher. In lesser hands, the exploration of these layers would unravel. But not here. Roscher instead allows the film to breath, take shape in surprising ways, while always returning to Bird and her truth. The film feels grounded, real, and personal, which I truly find incredibly compelling in cinema. When a filmmaker’s voice is so central to the story coming to life, I find myself far more invested than when a filmmaker feels so far removed from their characters and what unfolds. Roscher manages to find subtleties in her actors' performances that shed light later on in the film. These characters come to life in such a natural, organic way. You can reflect on people you know or encounter who have similar traits or share some part of their journey with Bird, especially when sense of self, belonging, and longing are so woven into the fabric of the film.

“Bird in Hand” is a reflection of one woman confronting the precipice of change. While feeling deeply personal, the film manages to expand the universalities at this particular stage of life, in contention with where someone finds themselves and where they want to be. Roscher’s vision is quite clear, and her confidence in her feature directorial debut makes the future of her career feel quite exciting.

Grade: A-
Pair This Film With: “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (2015) dir. Marielle Heller; “Miss Juneteenth” (2020) dir. Channing Godfrey Peoples; “Petite Maman” (2021) dir. Céline Sciamma

For more on “Bird in Hand,” you can visit the film’s Tribeca Film Festival page here.