Sundance Film Festival 2022: Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard Play A Narcissistic Mother-Son Duo In When You Finish Saving The World
Jesse Eisenberg makes his directorial debut with the dramedy When You Finish Saving The World, an adaptation of the 2020 audio drama he wrote, at Sundance Film Festival 2022.
When You Finish Saving The World stars Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard as a narcissistic mother-son duo who just don’t get each other. Moore plays Evelyn, a “good person” with a savior complex who runs a domestic abuse shelter, while Wolfhard plays her teenage son Ziggy, a social media musician blinded by followers and money. They turn to other people to try to fill the void they’re missing from each other, with Evelyn attempting to connect with a teen she sees more potential in than her own son and Ziggy developing a crush on a girl dedicated to activism.
While Eisenberg attempts to explore the complicated relationship between parents and their kids, the film struggles to get over the hurdle of its toxic and insufferable characters and lukewarm final act. Evelyn wants to help all these people, but not her own son. Ziggy plays a caricature of a social media brain-dead teen. Moore and Wolfhard are scarily believable in their shallow and privileged roles, but the film meanders, going nowhere with no real catalyst or ending.
When You Finish Saving The World will be distributed by A24. See Pop Culture Planet’s Best of the Fest, below:
