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If you grew up with siblings then you know that amongst the constant rivalries came games, weird voices and inside jokes that no matter how much you bicker will follow you everywhere. But recreating those childhood memories and playfulness is an uphill battle. Not just because of age, but the knowledge of all the good and bad you have now shared over the years. THE ADULTS from writer/director Dustin Guy Defa is a raw and delicate look at what happens when you resist your siblings for so long that the slightest dip back into the family pool feels both suffocating and exuberant. Here is a film so rooted in actuality that most moments feel like we are eavesdropping until it all pours out onto everything in its path.

Eric (Michael Cera) doesn’t want to see his sisters. Even after already making the trip from Portland to a small upstate New York town he sulks in his hotel room trying to find ways out of it. He tells his sister Rachel (Hannah Gross) that he has to visit friends to see their newborn baby only to tell his friends that he has to visit his sisters. Eric has his small schemes all worked out and yet has very little going for him. Rachel the middle sibling lives in their childhood home moving back after their mother passed, and their youngest sister Maggie (Sophia Lillis) has recently dropped out of college. Defa’s script makes it known early on that while the two sisters can get by without him Eric is the emotional glue that keeps them together even if it is all based on wishing he would come home more often. In fact he hasn’t been home in years, but to Maggie her big brother is a beam of light. Rachel on the other hand is more reserved and sees through most of his bullshit. THE ADULTS displays a painful observation of the three corners we deal with when it comes to siblings, Maggie wanting to bring back all childhood antics, Rachel cautious of everyone’s intentions and Eric a total removal only going back when its beneficial to oneself. But what makes THE ADULTS stand far and beyond the normal family indie drama are the moments when all three can’t resist going back into playful manners together. These scenes involving strange voices, character bits and full musical dance routines are some of the highlights. But these antics are no longer the endearing playtime of adolescents. Instead they have become the only way these three know how to communicate. Their conversations can only continue if they are in this manner and it is clear that while the voices may be sweet the words strike like daggers. The sisters are out for blood wanting to remind Eric that his absence is noticed and not appreciated after all these years.      

Eric however isn’t just some down on his luck schmuck that has now become a punching bag for his sisters. Here is a guy that knows his skills and does everything he can to remind himself that he is good at something. This comes through in Eric’s unusual poker skills. It becomes clear that he grew up playing with his friends as he weasels his way into games while he’s home. But when he finds himself on the losing side Eric sees the only way to win is extend his time with his sisters to make sure he can still come out on top. It isn’t a gambling addiction but a need to prove that he is the better person at something. It’s a heartbreaking look at a man who knows his sisters are better people than him yet doesn’t quite know how to fully be on their level anymore. Cera as Eric is an awkward person but gone is the shy Superbad or Scott Pilgrim. Here Cera is at his most intimidating a person who can frankly be described as just a prick. His taunting during the poker games is a tactic but one based more in self-validation. It is a role that not only shows that Cera is still an intriguing talent, but that his ability to control a scene comes naturally.

THE ADULTS is one of the few films in recent years that has so much personal emotions attached to it that you can’t even imagine what it must be like to be Defa’s sister watching this. There is pure love behind every conversation but its execution is nothing short of damaging. Scenes that start off mundane quickly erupt into aggravation whether it be the simple task of vacuuming the house or just attending a house party. But maybe that is why all this trainwreck is impossible to look away from, because at the end of it nobody actually crashes. Instead they all continue to come together leaving those without siblings dumbfounded that they are still bound to one another. There is no better display of this love when after a heated game of character role the the two sisters find themselves performing another dance routine this time to Men At Work’s “Overkill.” It is a combination of precise movement and free for all swaying. It isn’t long before even stubborn Eric joins in not missing a beat and we see exactly who they will always be. Siblings that can never truly separate. After all nobody just remembers these dance moves years later. No it comes from extensive practice even when you’re not around the person, painfully implicating that they carry one another no matter where they go. In the words of Colin Hay “Day after day it reappears. Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear.” What these siblings fear isn’t that they will lose each other, it is that have already done so years ago. But if there is even in the smallest bit or dance routine they can return to then all will never be lost, if if the words can never return.

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THE ADULTS HAD ITS NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE AT THE 2023 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL. IT WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS THIS AUGUST