The Scout
A New York City location scout photographs the homes of strangers for a T.V. pilot, stepping into their private lives while trying to satisfy her erratic employers. (NR, 89 min.)
Sofia works as a location scout for a TV pilot filming in New York City. It’s her job to find the homes, businesses, and exteriors where the show will be filmed. Driving around the city's different neighborhoods, she enters the private spaces of strangers to photograph their cozy apartments and eclectic shops, stepping into the fabric of their lives while trying to satisfy the demands of her erratic employers. Over a day filled with these encounters, Sofia witnesses moments of curiosity, vulnerability, and quiet tension until her work takes a sudden, personal turn. Drawing from her own experience as a location scout, writer-director Paula González-Nasser captures the poetry and costs of being a young creative. Her celebrated directorial debut The Scout crafts a contemplative exploration of urban disconnection, following one woman's journey through other people's worlds as she struggles to find her own. [Greenwich Entertainment]
Starring: Mimi Davila, Rutanya Alda, Max Rosen, Otmara Marrero, Matt Barats, Lisa Haas, Alex Goldberg, Sarah Herrman, Ikechukwu Ufomadu, Jackson Devereux, Jesse Ruuttila, Peter Mills Weiss
Director: Paula González-Nasser
Genres: Drama, Comedy
"A contemplative and funny portrait of a city, an industry, and the sacrifices needed to live in both."
— Jacob Oller, AV Club
"A slice-of-life dramedy that's occasionally quite funny and always interesting. A great New York movie."
— Brett Arnold, At the Movies
"'The Scout' is refreshingly not about this coveted ascension; it appreciates the small things that may one day be laid to rest."
— Cortlyn Kelly, RogerEbert.com
"The film, a work of fine-grained realism, still offers an evocative study of the struggle to live intentionally in New York, a city that demands speed."
— Natalia Winkelman, New York Times
"'The Scout' captures the contradictory experience of having a job closer to your dreams than many people ever get, but still far from where you want to be."
— Christian Zilko, IndieWire
"Mundanity can be beautiful, and it can also be dispiriting. That it can at once be both is The Scout’s revelation. And who are we to not bask in the brilliance of discovery?"
— Will Bjarnar, InSession Film
"While The Scout does serve as a stripped-back look at the unseen side of filmmaking, its power comes from its exploration of identity and how the search to understand oneself is constantly evolving."
— Hayley Croke, Loud and Clear Reviews
"[W]riter-director Paula González-Nasser, who worked as a location scout on several series (Mrs. Fletcher, Younger), has a knack for balancing the humor and absurdities of Sofia’s job with her ennui."
— Valerie Kalfrin, AWFJ.org
"The film confidently highlights the delicate relationship between people and their spaces, while also acknowledging the understated harshness of a job that requires you to assess... one of the more intimate elements of another person’s life."
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
Support for the Moxie
Become A Member
