Little Fires Everywhere is based in the present day, but the entirety of the story is shaped around and affected by events that occurred in the past. Created and shot by Hulu, this show is about two families. One family is a solely Caucasian family with a matriarchal structure. The mother is strict, but she always provides for her children. Financially, they sit in a high middle class position and their children have no worries whatsoever. They plan their futures, apply to college, have three home-cooked meals a day and have no complaints. However, there is one puzzle piece that won’t fit: the youngest daughter, Isabella, or Izzy, but I”ll get back to that point in a bit.

The other family involved is an African-American family comprised of a mother and daughter. They move around a lot due to the mother’s job as a freelance artist and their lack of a stable family unit. There is no sugar coating it: this family is dirt poor. The show even includes shots of them sleeping in their car. Now, I say that the show’s plot is affected by the past not because of the status of the two families, but because of the reaction when the two families meet. 

Elena, the mother of the Caucasian family, owns a duplex as a sentimental note. It was her mother’s old residence, and she decided to keep it as another source of income and to make sure that the memories never fade. So, as she shows the duplex to a mother and daughter, she quickly becomes aware of their economic status. She sees their car, the reaction of the daughter when she is ecstatic about having her own room and the mother’s sense of disappointment when she considers that she may not be able to afford the rent. Then, Elena realizes that this was the family that she called the cops on at the very start of the show. They were sleeping in a car, and Elena made a quick assumption and called the police with no hesitation to kick them out of the parking lot. Feeling guilty and responsible, she offers the duplex for less than half the rent to the mother and daughter as a charity.

This gesture brings the families together, but Elena does this because of the past. She felt as though she had no other option but to offer this duplex to this family. As the story goes on, this daughter and one of Elena’s sons begin to get close and the mothers start to get to know each other. But, something never seems right for Mia, the African American mother. She has outbursts of anger, always wants to leave, never explains herself and always has nightmares of a man on a subway. This allows me to believe that Mia may have been raped. These two families are connected, but Mia Warren wants out.

Back to Izzy: she goes against everything her mother says. Not only is she the ultimate rebel, but she has intentional targets with her misbehavior. There is zero regret in everything she does, as especially if it hurts her mother. For example, Elena told Izzy that her hair was her best feature and that same day, when she got home from school, she burned off one side of her hair with a curling iron. Granted, she is outright crazy. She adds even more entertainment to the show, and I love it.

In my opinion, Pearl should date Moody, Mia should stay and stop running from the man who haunts her dreams, Elena should lay off Izzy and stop being so stuck up and Izzy should stay exactly the way she is. These features will enhance the entertainment value of the show and will make the plot more interesting. I rate this movie a 4/5. Thank you, and goodnight.