Actual People

Slamdance Film Festival 2022 Greetings again from the darkness. Spicoli (Sean Penn in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH) was the poster child for stoners in the 80's. Julie (Deborah Foreman in VALLEY GIRL) taught us the annoying Valley Girl speech patterns, some of which have 'like' stuck around. The Dude (Jeff Bridges in THE BIG LEBOWSKI) epitomized slackers, and Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE) showed the messiness of post-graduation aimlessness. We can only hope that following in these era-defining cinematic footsteps was what writer-director-producer-star Kit Zauhar had in mind with her character of Riley - the prototype of a stereotypical whiny Millennial.

Riley is an Asian-American Philosophy major with only a couple of weeks left until graduation. She's also rudderless, frightened by the demands of independence, and unaccepting of society's structure and demands for adults. She was recently dumped by her boyfriend of three years, and is now aimless and unable to function and effectively finish the miniscule amount of schoolwork remaining in order to graduate. Riley seems only capable of whining, while she turns her attention (such that it is) to finding a new soul mate. Somehow this supersedes her need to complete college and move on with life.

The approach she takes is all about partying. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and cigarettes become part of her daily life. Friends come and go, and cringe-inducing conversations revolve around things like Boba tea, race relations, and vagina yogurt. Riley becomes obsessed, or at least misdirected, with emotions for one particular young man. She believes that their one-night stand combined with their sharing bi-racial backgrounds and a hometown of Philly equate to their destiny of togetherness. She's blind to the obvious disconnect with his feelings.

What we have is Riley, an aimless protagonist who seeks answers, while paying no attention to the life lessons she's receiving. Supporting work is provided by Scott Albrecht, Randall Palmer, Isabelle Barbier, and Tanya Morgan. The latter has one of the film's best scenes as a therapist/counselor for Riley. The stress of senior year and the adulthood that immediately follows graduation is certainly a hefty burden and one that weighs on many students. Unfortunately, Riley offers us little to care about as viewers. By this stage in life, being without a partner should not be debilitating. She's had four years to focus on what comes next, rather than who. We see Riley reading a Miranda July book, and it would be understandable if filmmaker Zauhar models her approach after the talented Ms. July, but the incessant whining and lack of backbone would probably not be found in a July project. Riley is tough to watch, especially when her crush describes their time together (in the film's best line) as "special in the moment, not significant." We hold high expectations for Ms. Zauhar's future as an actor and filmmaker, and let's hope she's learned her lessons better than Riley.

I'm not the best at writing reviews... where to start? The film throws the viewer an extremely uncomfortable feeling for the first half, but compelling. Luckily it backs off from the young adult awkwardness in the second half, and ends on an uplifting note. I liked this balance.

The film definitely has a mumblecore feel to it, though it's obviously not mumblecore as it was well-scripted. Nevertheless, it's always refreshing to see these ultra realistic depictions of contemporary young adult angst. Also refreshing not to have white lead. The film feels a bit early 2010s, maybe because there's a notable absence of smartphones and feels pre-pandemic. Still, a lot of these experiences are timeless.

I personally hope she continues making more films like these.

Look out, here comes a new generation of American indie filmmakers; with distinctly more diverse casting than ever before, even a decade after Dunham's "Girls" and Greta Gerwig perfecting the genre and now helmihg the director's stick, "Actual People" puts on its predecessor's old proclivities for too-long dialogues, badly lit sets, unimaginative framing and hand-held cinematography. What used to actually mean something aesthetically 15-20 years ago, wears itself here like pure creative laziness. You only get glimpses of genuine originality through IG stories-like fragments, but they are far and too few to really give a feeling of intention.

Boring and boring, not everyone can be Phoebe Waller bridge.

The movie is so relatable to me and I really enjoyed the dialogue. There were some clever lines, as well as the raw awkwardness of their interactions. I see myself in Riley's character with college, friends from back home, parents, and the existential crisis of graduating and having to move on into the "adult world." The movie is a little slow, but it is funny and awkward and Riley's character is hilarious. Her final breakdown is so real and personal and she portrayed it so well. I loved the characters and the script. The movie gave me a warm comfy feeling and made me feel seen as a young POC post graduate with absolutely no idea what I'm doing :-)