A woman’s attempt to start a new life doesn’t go exactly as planned in this really funny biopic based on the life of co-director Shy Pilgreen.

Lacy Pilgreen has been on the road to recovery after an addiction to crystal meth. She admits she has made mistakes and now, she is facing the repercussions of those mistakes. Losing nearly everything from her addictions, she returns to her hometown in Alabama to reunite with her brother Mike and his family as well as some old friends. However, there poses one problem to start. Mike and his wife Ila make a living selling the exact drug she was addicted to. As she attempts to avoid her brother, things just become complicated.

Moving to Los Angeles to avoid any more trouble, Lacy finds her life troubling when she fights and recovers from breast cancer. As for Mike and Ila, they lose their children to the state due to their business. Things go down a darker path for Mike and Lacy when the COVID-19 pandemic hits. Lacy is forced to live with an aspiring musician named Lick who was originally a one-night stand. Mike is forced in quarantine by his wife. Will the brother and sister be able to get out of their jams when the pandemic ends?

Co-directed by Shy Pilgreen and Robert Peters, this is quite an interesting biopic of sorts based on the life of Pilgreen. Shot between 2018 and 2022, it is interesting to see the changes in Pilgreen as we see this mockumentary based on her life, or as she puts it, “real s**t”. This is quite fun and sometimes emotional to see our lead character Lacy try to deal with her addictions and attempts at recovery, especially when she realizes a major mistake comes in the form of a certain video she regrets making while she was at her lowest.

What makes the film more interesting is the love-hate relationship between Lacy and her brother Mike, played by co-director Peters. Peters may be known for his role as Kathryn Newton’s dad in the 2015 film The Martial Arts Kid, but we get to see his side of things as well mostly in the second half of the film. Peters is pretty funny as we see him at the short end of the stick when it comes to his wife, who is always on him and making sure during the pandemic that he stays inside in quarantine, even punishing him for a full month when he is busted going out and playing golf.

As for Lacy, you can only sympathize with her when it comes to her relationship with musician Lick, originally a one-night stand who ends up in an off-on relationship with him. He comes off as very annoying and then a shocking twist comes in that soon enough takes a temporary dark turn, with the term “temporary” taken lightly. Nevertheless, it seems like we may see Lacy in a good place eventually as the end credits shows footage of Pilgreen’s real family, some of whom play roles in the film.

South of Sanity is quite a journey, a hilarious one, through the eyes of its protagonist. Shy Pilgreen is definitely a name to look out for with her hard work and dedication to bringing her story to life in a comedic way. One can only hope to see more from her in the future.

WFG RATING: A

All Channel Films presents a Lakewater Entertainment production. Directors: Shy Pilgreen and Robert Peters. Producers: Shy Pilgreen and David Kallaway. Writers: Shy Pilgreen, Hannah Alline, and Jason White. Cinematography: Gregory Gray. Editing: David Edison and Jody Fedele.

Cast: Shy Pilgreen, Robert Peters, Jennifer Pierce Mathus, Ritchie Montgomery, Billy Watson, Carter Pilgreen, Alayna Pilgreen, Jill Hopkins, Brad Carter.