So, this past summer, I decided to give myself an absurd goal when it comes to watching movies, and that absurd goal was to watch fifty newly released films between the months of May and August. Spoiler alert, I achieved it. From Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Fast X; from The Little Mermaid to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; from Asteroid City to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One to Barbie; from Oppenheimer to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; to Blue Beetle and many more. I have seen these films and pretty much enjoyed watching them; for the most part. One of the films that I did see that wasn’t mentioned in my lineup, nor had big marketing for it, was an indie film called The Adults.

If you haven’t heard of The Adults before, then I don’t blame you. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of it until I saw a poster of it in a theater lobby one day, and only saw the trailer once before another movie. So why did I watch it? Well, a good number of reasons. First, I wanted to see something more down to earth compared to the films I mentioned in my previous paragraph. Second, it was an additional film to add to my collection of fifty that I watched during these past few months. Third, I wanted to see something that no one has heard and talk about here on The Legionnaire. Is it a worthy film to talk about? As always, let’s find out.

In The Adults, we follow three siblings: there’s the oldest Eric (Michael Cera), a middle sibling Rachel (Hannah Gross), and the youngest one Maggie (Sophia Lillis). The film starts with Eric checking into a hotel and informing Rachel that he has returned for a short visit to their hometown and wants to catch up. Rachel then informs him that Maggie is unavailable that night but will be the next day. That night, Eric tries to get together with his old poker buddies for a round but is unsuccessful, but finds out about a game the following night. The next morning, Eric final reconnects with his sisters. As the film progresses, they start talking about their lives after their mom has passed, which was a couple of years prior to the events of the film. When Eric is not interacting with his sisters, he spends almost every night playing poker games, so much so that he extends his trip longer than he anticipated.

So, as you can tell, The Adults isn’t much of a narrative film, but rather a slice of life. Usually, I kind of enjoy these films and this one has its merits. As for loving it, however, let’s just say there are certain elements that feel underdeveloped and kept me from truly appreciating it.

One thing that I like off the bat is that The Adults is short, clocking in around ninetyish minutes, which is a perfect running time for this type of film. I have seen so many movies this year, let alone this summer, where the runtime was over two hours long and it didn’t need to be that long. The Adults had a perfect length. One major con, however, of being short was that it didn’t allow development of all the characters in the film. For example, Eric is the one who gets the most screentime and character development compared to his sisters. Granted, Micheal Cera is the bigger star compared to Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, though I wish they got more of the spotlight. The only development we see from Hannah Gross’s character is that she got out of a relationship and is taking care of the house that used to belong to their late mother. With Sophia Lillis’s character, her main trait is that she is taking a break from college. Honestly, I am probably missing some information related to the two sisters, but the story remains thin.

Despite my disapproval of the growth of two out of the three siblings, one thing that I can say in full confidence that I did enjoy was the chemistry that they all had with each other. The three leads carry The Adults, and it’s important to have that in order to maintain a ninety-minute film, especially when there’s not much to work with when it comes to character growth. I partially enjoyed their conversations that they had when, out of nowhere, they would impersonate different types of people with silly accents. It’s probably an inside joke between the siblings, but I like how the film showed and not told us this odd behavior. It brings some authenticity to to these genuine characters.

For the most part, I wish The Adults was a better film, though I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with it because I didn’t expect much to begin with. It’s a simple film about siblings who are dealing with adulthood, which is something that I can relate to given the fact that I have two siblings. One is a year and three months younger than me and the other I am almost ten years older. I would be sugarcoating it that all three of us have a perfect relationship, however. This year alone, there was a bumpy moment between my brother and I but being the good Catholic that I’m trying to be. I forgave him and vice versa and we have been better ever since. 

Anyway, The Adults isn’t one I will think highly of for years to come given the flaws, but it was something that I did appreciate. It reminded me of my brother and sisters when, despite our differences, I thank God that I have them in my life. But it was a good break from the juggernaut of blockbusters that I saw this past summer.