North of Normal-Totals Nothing Noteworthy

I'm usually bowled over by a coming of age story combined with an upbringing outside the range of normalcy. Nonetheless, "North of Normal" the true story of Cea Sunrise (an ebullient Amanda Fix), raised in a flagrantly neglectful and toxic manner by her pot smoking teen mother and grandparents in the wilderness wields nominal, noteworthy interest. At first, I wanted to root for Cea with her beseeching bovine eyes as she yearns for any semblance of security. The actress portraying young Cea (River Price-Maenpaa) is the only miraculous aspect of the film now screening on Apple TV other than her brown years turning cerulean blue as a teenager. Cea's is forever being dragged by her mom (Sarah Gadon) as she moves from one shiftless boyfriend to the next. The first few years where Cea is living in the woods with her mom and grandparents in teepees, she is recklessly left to fend for herself. The allure of growing up feral in a natural habitat is romanticized.  Evenings dancing around the campfire with her family and various vagrants glosses over the hardships and depravities of living outside civilization and the law. There would seem plenty of fodder to take from Cea's life for creating a character arc despite development despite bad parenting, abandonment and abuse.  But, we're left with detritus and montages that fail to stir the viewer. The poignancy of a young girl pining for her mother's love and seeking a safe harbor is sorely missing. Six years passed in which Cea was left in the unreliable care of her grandparents in the Yukon. There's no glimpse into this time. You can only wonder what transpired. Cea is reunited with her mom who's late to meet her at the bus station. For the first time she's enrolled in a classroom. The disastrous fallout of living outside society and the ostracism she feels fail to elicit  sympathy for our heroine. This was never a Gilmore girl's relationship between mother/daughter. Nor is it a striking allegory for perseverance. "North of Normal" is neither a captivating or cautionary tale.  It's a washed over account that pales despite an unconventional lifestyle as it feels inconsequential.  In the most dramatic scene, Cea pleads with her mom who is about to send her away, "Why can't you chose me for once. I'm your daughter." This was too little too late to stir the heartstrings. "North of Normal" registers south on this critic's scale.  It meandered meaninglessly and was a massive disappointment.