Some films have characters and situations that will inherently make your skin crawl. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable experience. Director Dustin Guy Defa’s film, The Adults, features such an experience, as the tension between the siblings is undeniably tough. It is only made worse as the way they deal with that tension becomes more and more childlike. Just a few scenes into this movie, I was sure it was going to be an unpleasant experience that I was confident I would still find to be a well-made movie. As it turned out, I was correct on both counts.
Michael Cera plays Eric, who is returning home to see his sisters for the first time in three years. He is seeking a victory with his old poker group while giving minimal time to his sisters, Rachel (Hannah Gross) and Maggie (Sophia Lillis). As he continues to extend his visit in pursuit of that victory, he is forced to address things he’d been carefully avoiding.
The tension in this film is palpable almost instantly. Cera brings this discomfort in almost every situation like a second character in the scene. He constantly seems like he wants to be where he is while simultaneously wanting to be a million miles away. The way Eric approaches conversations and topics feels both aggressive and somehow uncertain. This becomes more evident when Rachel and Maggie start to inquire about things, and old behaviors manifest. Each has a variety of characters or personas they embody with voices that they use to disguise their true feelings as someone else’s. These moments are cringe-inducing, but also entirely relatable. It’s hard to root for any of these characters, but it’s equally challenging to not relate to them. It’s seeing oneself in their behavior that probably causes the most discomfort.
The Adults is not quite mumblecore but definitely fits into that genre. It’s a heavy-talk film where the characters exist inside a state of arrested development. The answers seem obvious, but we can’t help but sympathize with their inability to deal with them. It often feels easier to ignore the problems and hope they go away, because the idea of dealing with them seems impossible. The film captures this, and delivers on these themes through very good performances.
The Adults will be in theaters on August 18.
Rating: Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy
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