Three days after the spook of Halloween and sugar comas courtesy of trick-or-treating, things took a light hearted turn for the comedic when A24's "Lady Bird" opened in theatres around the world. Opting for the route of limited release, this independent comedy-drama did not prove to be the runaway box office success as was expected of "Justice League" -- which opened two week later. Despite failing to cash in a pay check followed by an endless lineup of zeroes, "Lady Bird" was embraced by an encore of rapturous acclaim that proved to be as loud as the seizures of laughter the film invoked within those of the audience -- who for a night -- had decided it was time to get a taste of movies lingering just outside the glamorous echelons of Hollywood, but hardly descended a quarter of an inch from the heights of cinematic excellence. Currently holding a 100% score of Rotten Tomatoes based on 187 reviews, it surpassed the record holder "Toy Story 2", becoming the most reviewed movie to retain a perfect critical score.

Written and directed by actress Greta Gerwig, also her directorial debut, "Lady Bird" is a coming-of-age story that explores Christine, aka Lady Bird's, turbulent relationship with Marion, her overbearing mother. At the heart of Lady Bird's struggles to manage expectations heaped upon her at school and her parents, within the maelstrom of the protagonist's bitter back and firths with Marion, the primary source of division that sends Lady Bird on a crash course with her mother is her desire to depart California in favour of New York for college. A native of Sacramento, where the film takes place, and a graduate of the Columbia affiliated Barnard College, Greta Gerwig's backstory, which all but mirrors Christine's journey, is what has lead few critics to dub "Lady Bird" as the writer/director's love letter to her home town. But when one's attention is called to the simple, yet touching final scene, it stands to reason, beyond all doubt, beyond all the fights we've had with our own parents, that this visual tour de force is Gerwig's way of saying, "I love you, mom."

Boasting a natural, down to earth, but vulnerable acting masterfully delivered by Saoirse Ronan, nominated for an Oscar for her work in "Brooklyn", and Laurie Metcalf, "Lady Bird" also proves to be a revelation on art forms required to make any film a force to be reckoned with. Coupled with the bringing to life of the characters and their world, another element of the "Lady Bird" that calls a jaw dropping, hypnotic fixation unto itself is Gerwig's writing. Lacing the action and dialogue that prove to be as eccentric as the characters, it is the scripts narrative voice that gives it flare of flamboyance, unpredictability, but most important to any filmmaker, originality. Yet those who have scene "Frances Ha", an earlier film Gerwig wrote and received her first Golden Globe nomination for, would be no stranger to her artistic, off tangent, march-to-your-own-beat style. Nevertheless, despite owning a voice that certainly bodes off kilter with Hollywood convention, Gerwig is not only able to hone in on the target of what she is trying to say, but catches a bird singing on souring notes as her arrow pierces that bullseye that is "Lady Bird".