A coming-of-age story told through the lens of a young woman growing up in Silicon Valley, The Book of Jobs intertwines her life to the legacy of Steve Jobs. Victoria Pedretti (Netflix’s You, The Haunting of Hill House) plays the film’s author/narrator, always providing a window of insight to her character’s erratic insecurities. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Steve Jobs was a creative force whose influence lorded over the land. The script from writer/director Kayci Lacob traces a series of major life events—including 9/11, and Jobs’ struggles with cancer—directly overtop a budding teen trying to find her place in the world. Told in short, vignette-like chapters, The Book of Jobs captures the turbulence of growing up immersed in technology and ambition, mirroring the life of Silicon Valley’s most iconic figure.
Through flashbacks narrated by an adult version of the character, we follow Claudia from her childhood into her teenage years. One constant is Claudia’s infatuation with Steve Jobs. In fact, Claudia goes so far as calling him a “messiah,” with Silicon Valley being her little “Garden of Eden.” The metaphors seem obvious, particularly in the face of Claudia’s own struggles. The Book of Jobs finds its emotional core in Claudia’s realization that life is messy and uncontrollable, even for someone like Steve Jobs.
At times, though mostly successful, the structure feels a bit choppy. As Claudia’s headstrong mom, Judy Greer gives the film’s best performance. Unfortunately, she remains underutilized, with the audience not getting enough time to follow her cancer journey to the finish line. As with life, tragic incidents are thrown out with often reckless abandon, forcing the receiver to keep it moving regardless. In context here, a surprising death that occurs neither feels earned, nor does it have enough weight to subsequent vignettes of time. Also underplayed is Pedretti’s adult Claudia, mainly serving as a bookend while reading her novel aloud in a bookstore. By subjecting Pedretti to such a truncated role, we rely only on her voicework to get into Claudia’s headspace. It seems to be sacrificing depth to run to the finish line, name-dropping Jobs at every opportunity.
Ultimately, The Book of Jobs is a thoughtful, if sometimes scattered, meditation on ambition, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of an impossibly complicated world. Like technology, we are constantly evolving as people. No matter the innovations, we all live and sadly, we also all must eventually die. So too did Steve Jobs. The legacy he left still stands tall to this day, so who could be surprised that the very concept of his influence actually inspired a film? With a beating heart and a solid foundation, The Book of Jobs still satisfies in the face of minor flaws.
The Book of Jobs screened at 2024’s Mill Valley Film Festival.
Hi! How can I watch this?
I played the nurse and I have yet to see it. How can we watch it? lol