“Goddamnit, I’ll take the ‘I am Sunshine’.”
This has been quite a busy year for Natalia Leite and Alexandra Roxo. Having premiered their BARE film back in April at the Tribeca Film Festival, the duo return for the second season of their acclaimed web series Be Here Nowish, which premiered last month on Vimeo on Demand. Self-distributed by Leite and Roxo’s Purple Milk Production company and produced alongside Bow&Arrow productions, this sexy and stylish series follows the professional and personal exploits of two sexually progressive young women and close friends Nina and Sam, who last season were seen “having a shit time in NY and [went] to LA in search of a spiritual awakening and new potential hot dates.”
Hailed as the next Broad City by Bedford and Bowery, the first season premiered last year via the Tribeca Film Festival’s new N.O.W. section, an online showcase that emphasizes artistic innovation in both technical craft and narrative storytelling.
Picking up right where last season left off, we find Nina as she finally joins Sam in making the big move to LA; where the latter has already situated herself, and seems to have taken up a rather fanatic devotion to spirituality, yoga and abstinence in the process—a holistic lifestyle that makes for some great comedic fodder early on.
As the two continue to navigate spirituality, sex, friendship and partying while learning to balance the uniquely modern challenges of romance, career ambition and soul-searching facing millennials, they also attempt to make healthier life choices this time around as they approach 30—and it is this sense of personal growth and the need to embrace adult responsibilities that permeates the more mature tone of this season.
Amidst all the booze & cannabis, tantric erotica, incense and patchouli oil, this season also taps into more mature terrain by exploring the complicated boundaries and implications of open relationships with humor and brutal honesty, while delving into more serious issues such as HIV—in a way that strips away the stigma and humanizes those afflicted—and the anxious uncertainty that comes with getting older and facing the sober realization that the path to personal and professional fulfillment is long and windy, to say the least.
As Leite and Roxo note: “We wanted to create a show that openly, without judgment or taboo, shows the absurdity and depth of exploration of sexuality and spirituality, and how these things are changing for our generation. In a sea of media that comments on our generation’s pitfalls and strengths, we felt there is nothing that accurately depicts the world we live in…a world where managing to survive/pay bills/pay for $15 cheeseburgers and $10 kale juice on weirdo freelance schedules is “normal,” while juggling magic and meditation groups and dance parties all night. Where dating is more complex than trigonometry and commitment is scarce. Where people choose their personal pronouns, girls look like boys, boys look like girls, sexuality is fluid, sex is complicated, and laughter is abundant.”
More information on the second season, including the season 2 trailer and links for streaming and downloading episodes, can be found here.
