Review: Other People

Jesse Plemons stars as David, a twenty-nine-year-old gay New York-based comedy writer who has moved back to Sacramento to be with his cancer-stricken mother for what may be the last year of her life, in Chris Kelly's semi-autobiographical feature film debut, Other People.

Like most films of this ilk, Other People is less about the person who is dying than the one to whom the greatest life lesson is imparted. Hell is other people, Jean-Paul Sartre famously declared, and more often than not those other people are your family. For David, his mother Joanne (Molly Shannon) appears to be the one shining beacon in a Sacramento full of narrow-minded simpletons. His grandparents (June Squibb and Paul Dooley) are proud of him, but have no clue about what he actually does for a living. His younger sisters (Maude Apatow and Madisen Beaty) are peripheral figures, supportive but perhaps too young to be useful confidantes. His father Norman (Bradley Whitford) still hasn't accepted his son's homosexuality.

Dealing with failures both personal (he recently broke up with boyfriend Paul, played by Zach Woods) and professional (his script wasn't picked up) exacerbates David's loneliness. He doesn't want to burden his mother with his problems, he definitely cannot talk to his father. He finds relief in his occasional meet-ups with high-school friend Gabe (John Early), who lost his mother years ago. The scenes between David and Gabe are so satisfying, especially when they involve Justin (J.J. Totah), an absolutely fabulous preteen gay whose confidence puts everyone, gay or straight, to shame.

Whilst Plemons and Shannon are both excellent and share a wonderful connection, it is the moments where David deals with the burdens of his personal life that Other People truly comes into focus. David and Paul's farewell sex scene is remarkably frank and unself-conscious. Exchanges between David and his father are straightforward and wincing. A family dinner at a diner has Norman checking in on his daughters about their boyfriends, but asking David about his writing. A later exchange has Norman offering to "have the debate" about David's homosexuality at any time; David rightly points out that it's not a debate. Most painfully, Norman refuses to step foot inside Paul's apartment, opting to wait outside on the sidewalk as the rest of the family go in and pay their greetings.

Despite these moments, Other People becomes wearisome mostly because there's a certain hollowness at its core. It's clear that Kelly is drawing from personal experience but he hasn't quite managed to make his truth ring true.

Other People

Directed by: Chris Kelly

Written by: Chris Kelly

Starring: Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, John Early, Zach Woods, June Squibb, Paul Dooley, Maude Apatow, Madisen Beaty, J.J. Totah