Directed and written by Andrew Adams, American Meltdown follows Olivia Walker (Jacki Von Preysing), who experiences a series of unfortunate events. Her boyfriend Rich (Christopher Mychael Watson) dumps her, her boss puts her on leave to avoid paying benefits, and her apartment is robbed, all on the same day. Her boss blames unions, her property manager, Lou (Clayton Farris), blames her lack of insurance, and the cops seem indifferent. The sheer absurdity of Olivia’s predicament is both amusing and unbelievable.

She becomes friends—and later roommates—with Mari Navarro (Nicolette Sweeney), who starts their relationship by lifting Olivia’s wallet. Their eventual burglary is a humorous yet poignant response to the absurdities the heroine has already endured. Sometimes, humor can be a balm that allows us to address more serious themes. In my mind, we’re going to need more of it to get through the next several years.

It feels like no one is here for you. The majority of the day is work, then more work and the reward is often, well, more work if you can handle it. But said, “You can handle it, right?” The notion that the only way to escape late-stage capitalism is through acts of crime should be frankly terrifying instead of heartwarming, but here we are.

Olivia has to face the idea that to escape the life she’s in, she must destroy it. For so many of us, this means leaving the comfort that we’ve created for ourselves. It’s so much easier to complain and feel that momentary release than to tear off the bandages and attempt to change everything forever. This film makes you face that, but in a way that is gentle, nudging and hilarious. It has definitely made me better consider the choices that I make.

The Chattanooga Film Festival is over. For more information and to see how you can donate so that next year is even bigger, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.