Showing Up (2022) review

Things aren't going optimally for sculptor Lizzy (Michelle Williams), who is employed at the (now closed) Oregon College of Art and Craft: her cat Ricky attacked a pigeon and then she has to care for it, her hot water tank is broken and her landlord/frenemy Jo (Hong Chau) won't fix it, her brother Sean (John Magaro) is showing signs of mental illness ... and she has a show to put on.  As is usual with Reichardt's films, she gives you very little and expects the viewer to assemble the actual "meaning," but there isn't much of anything there to work with (unless you can stretch your imagination to the far end of the galaxy): frumpy grump Lizzy just works on her pieces (one of them burns in the kiln), tends to the bird, nibbles on food, talks with her separated parents ... and that's about it.  Perhaps she's trying to "demystify" the role of the artist as some "enlightened" creature and instead as someone who treats it like a "job" that requires a good deal of time and devotion.  But to that I say: okay ... so?