‘Adult Children’ review: Galway prizewinner is smart, breezy US coming-of-age drama

Dir: Rich Newey. US. 2024. 100mins.

Growing older does not mean growing up. Rich Newey’s breezily engaging coming-of-age tale Adult Children follows a teenager as she spends quality time with her three significantly older half-siblings. Any notion they may have wisdom to impart is soon dispelled in a wry tale of modern families that should be bouyed by its best international independent feature win at Galway Film Fleadh.

 A sweet-natured film that does not overstay its welcome

Newey has extensive experience of episodic US television (Beauty & The Beast, Good Witches, God Friended Me etc) and that is sometimes evident in the bright lighting, sitcom-smart wisecracks and emotional beats of Adult Children. The central location is a spacious, sun-filled suburban home with a picture-perfect kitchen and endless rooms. Creature comforts are all around, and create a contrast with the messed-up lives of the people who have lived here. The film becomes a more appealing proposition once it begins to show its teeth, suggesting modest prospects domestically and in markets where US indie fare still has a hold.

Loosely based on the family history of screenwriter and co-producer Annika Marks, who is married to Newey, the film evokes the likes of Ladybird (2017) and Booksmart (2019) as it focuses on 17-year-old Morgan (Ella Rubin, recently seen in Anora) and her struggle to navigate the challenges of imminent adulthood. Morgan is the daughter of Ben (Coburn Goss) and Mimi (Mimi Rogers), who also has three children from her first marriage.

A summer trip to Europe is in jeopardy when they learn Mimi’s son Josh (Thomas Sadoski) has once again gone off the rails, and will now be staying with them as part of his recovery. Mimi persuades Josh’s sisters Lisa (Breaking Bad’s Betsy Brandt) and Dahlia (Aya Cash) to drop all their responsibilities in Chicago and babysit him through this latest crisis. Morgan opts to stay in Illinois, meaning all four will be home alone together. The family home cannot help but confront the older siblings with past memories and glimpses of the people they might have been.

Initially, the quartet seem to slip easily into their designated roles. Lisa is the responsible parent, Dahlia a more impish, carefree bohemian, and Josh is the one who always messes up. Morgan is left to ponder where she fits in with half-siblings who are starting to treat her as more of an equal than a child.

Marks’s screenplay charts how the three older siblings gradually reveal their true colours and how Morgan comes to realise that adults – especially these adults – do not have all the answers. Adult Children develops into a tale of guilty secrets, ulterior motives, honest conversations and sweet vulnerability. The sharper lines of dialogue and insights are reminiscent of the work of the late Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister, Sword Of Trust etc) and her understanding of family dynamics and human failings.

Newey’s fondness for montage sequences does lend the film a slightly glib quality, but he keeps a clear view of these tangled relationships. He also covers a fair amount of territory in a sweet-natured tale that does not overstay its welcome, finding a balance between incident and character. Newey also has an ensemble cast that wins sympathy for characters who initially appear privileged and self-indulgent. Rubin – who is the spitting image of a young Anne Hathaway – may be a little too old for the teenage Morgan, but she captures the curiosity and naivety of someone cautiously taking her first steps into a confusing new world.