Their Town
This coming-of-age story set around the rehearsals for a high school play sensitively follows in the footsteps of the Before trilogy.
Time seems to stand still in a small American town when two teenagers meet.
When the star of the high school play, Abby (Ora Duplass), loses her co-star when her boyfriend Tyler drops out of the production, he is replaced by Matt (Chosen Jacobs), who feels at home behind the scenes. Abby agrees to help Matt with his lines. The meeting sets off a night-time wander through the sleepy little town, during which the teenagers open up to one another.
Their Town is a family collaboration: director Katie Aselton and screenwriter Mark Duplass explore the anxieties and insecurities of adolescence, as well as parent-child relationships, without taking a condescending view. Ora Duplass, who gives a sensitive performance as Abby, is the daughter of the director-screenwriter couple. The chemistry between the young lead actors possesses a rare authenticity that makes small moments grand and intimate.
This drama, reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, is a sensitive and unadorned portrayal of connection and the fragility of youth. The film, which premiered at South by Southwest, reminds us of the profound power that another person’s presence can have, particularly at a time when the world seems to be in a state of upheaval.
Riikka Pennanen (translated by Moritz Müller)
Screenings
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Kinopalatsi 5Sat 19.9. at 21.15–22.3681 min, 1/4
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Kinopalatsi 1Tue 22.9. at 16.00–17.2181 min, 2/4
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Kino TöölöWed 23.9. at 21.00–22.2181 min, 3/4
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Gilda 2Sat 26.9. at 16.00–17.2181 min, 4/4
