Director Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader)’s latest feature Fresno may be lewd, crude, and farcical at times, but It’s also the most heartfelt and honest portrayal of the pangs of sisterhood since Frozen and Blue Jasmine. 

Bringing together underrated funny women Natasha Lyonne and Judy Greer, Fresno centers on cheerful but insecure optimist Martha (Lyonne of Orange is the New Black), a hotel housekeeper who gives her acerbic sister Shannon (Greer) a job and a place to stay after her uncontrollable sex addiction gets her fired from her previous teaching position. Unbeknownst to Martha, Shannon abandoned rehab in favor of clandestine hookups with her married therapist Edwin (Ron Livingston). Unable to control her wantonness, yet still under her sister’s watch, Shannon accidentally kills a boorish hotel guest (Jon Daly) after her sister mistakenly believes him to be sexually assaulting her.

The rest of the film involves the sisters trying to hide the body all the while trying to steal the twenty-five thousand dollars a pair of pet cemetery owing blackmailers (Alison Tolman and Fred Armisen) charge them for cremating the body, and juggling their respective love interests (Aubrey Plaza and Malcolm Barrett, both indelible in their vulnerable roles). The film also features memorable cameos by comedic powerhouses Molly Shannon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and Jessica St. Clair (Bridesmaids).

Though the film lurches into campy territory at times (the obscenity laced rap by a bar mitzvah boy is its most unforgivable foray into the bizarre), it is its leading ladies and their touching portrayal of the bittersweet trials and tribulations of sisterhood that keeps the film grounded in reality.

[star v=3]