The Adults

Regrettably, the understated rewards of director Dustin Guy Defa’s The Adults come with a caveat – a potentially significant one, depending on the point of view: the central trio of the film (siblings who are distant, if not quite estranged) are prone to breaking into song and dance, while also assuming cute voices as they pretend to be the imaginary characters they made up as children. 

These sequences are not as charming as they’re intended to be, and might, in fact, trigger uncontrollable eye-rolling amongst viewers. Although they may be wildly amusing for the fictional siblings of The Adults, for the audience it’s like smiling with polite confusion at an inside joke. Was it a coincidence that each song and dance or conversation with silly voices was exactly when several viewers at the press screening got up and walked out? 

Eric (Michael Cera) is visiting his hometown after three years away. Instead of staying in the mostly empty family home, now inhabited by his younger sister, Rachel (Hannah Gross), who took over the place after their parents died, he opts for the nondescript surroundings of a mid-range hotel. While only originally planning to visit Rachel and his keen-witted youngest sister Maggie (Sophia Lillis) for a day, Eric sticks around, giving the disconnected siblings a chance to bury their bitterness.

The protagonist’s reasons for staying are far from altruistic (he simply wants to play poker), but the siblings’ collective hand is forced, and their unexpected time together finally allows the reasons for their resentment to be explored. The animosity is solely between Eric and Rachel, each having spent decades assuming they were hated by the other, with Maggie wanting to appease both sides. It’s a pleasure to watch Eric and Rachel’s grudging realisation of the absurdity of it all. Cera, Gross and Lillis complement each other nicely, and the trio convince as a family – certainly helped by a passing physical resemblance. 

Although the earnest vaudeville routines become a tiny bit insufferable, these cringeworthy moments are adequately counterbalanced by the melancholic family drama on offer.

Oliver Johnston

The Adults does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.