Laurel Canyon

Laurel Canyon (2003) is a Los Angeles drama from director Lisa Cholodenko — watch it online on iFILM. Sam, a young Harvard-trained doctor played by Christian Bale, arrives in LA for a residency with his fiancée Alex (Kate Beckinsale). The plan was to stay in his mother's empty house in Laurel Canyon. Except his mother Jane — Frances McDormand — is there, along with the rock band she's producing.

Jane runs her life on instinct: late nights, pool parties, music till dawn, and no wall between professional and personal. Alex finds it all intoxicating. Sam finds a colleague at the hospital whose company is a little too easy. Two careful people discover, slowly, that they're not quite who they thought they were.

Cholodenko doesn't push — the film unfolds at the pace of a long California afternoon, and the discomfort sneaks up on you. McDormand playing a free-spirited music producer is a genuinely unexpected casting choice, and she makes it work completely. Stream Laurel Canyon (2003) online on iFILM.