Review: ‘The Future’
It's impossible to love Miranda July's movies as much as she does. Coated with a thick gloss of self-regard, her pixie-like indie dramas have a preciousness that can be suffocating, not to mention outright infuriating. But being pretentious doesn't automatically disqualify you from making good work, and in the case of July's latest, her showy ambition translates into something genuinely affecting.
"The Future," like her debut, "Me and You and Everyone We Know," takes a look at some quirky hipsters making their way in the world. But this time around, the drama isn't quite so facile and self-consciously adorable. Sophie (July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater, from "The New Adventures of Old Christine") are a long-term couple in their mid-30s. Their relationship seems perfectly fine, but a slight anxiety presents itself when they adopt an abandoned cat with the understanding that its advanced illness will guarantee it won't live more than six months. They figure it'll be an easy way to practice raising a child without the lengthy commitment.
But an odd wrinkle presents itself when they learn that the cat needs to stay at the vet for another month -- and that it could live longer than they had initially thought. Sophie and Jason decide to take advantage of their month of freedom by following their bliss. She quits her crummy job to pursue dancing full time, while he becomes a volunteer for an environmental nonprofit. But that freedom exposes unexpected problems in their relationship -- problems they can't quite articulate and perhaps aren't even consciously aware of.
What follows is a sometimes horribly twee relationship drama that will put you off if you let it. (Should you need an excuse to be annoyed, "The Future" is narrated by July in a cutesy/creepy voice from the perspective of the cat. It's even more irksome than that sounds.) But if you stick with "The Future," you'll be treated to a strangely honest examination of the silent fears that can eat away at 30-somethings stuck in between adolescent hormones and middle-aged contentment. Much like Godard's "Contempt" or Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut," "The Future" turns a couple's specific dynamic into a mysteriously shifting, mutating creature.
And like those earlier films, there's something oddly out of reach about "The Future" that adds to its pleasures. I don't want to give much away, but the couple's individual crises are tied to their run-in with individuals outside their normal worlds, which upsets the rhythms of their relationship. But where "Me and You" was often quirky for quirky's sake, "The Future" is legitimately dark and melancholy, especially because the personal journeys Sophie and Jason go on can sometimes have a dreamlike logic to them that suggests what we're seeing may not always be real. July has used her precocious talent to express something almost subliminal about the fear of commitment. Backed by Jon Brion's nervous, delicate lo-fi score, "The Future" isn't like your typical relationship drama. There really aren't big blowup scenes or heartfelt monologues to be delivered in the rain. In fact, you might almost think that Sophie and Jason are fine. But the more we watch, the more we know they're not, even if they don't.
Of a small cast, Linklater is particularly good. He starts off as a cliche of an irony-rich Angeleno, but that's merely a disguise once Jason's real feelings start to melt away his blase exterior. David Warshofsky is also superb playing another cliche, the soulless suburban drone, but he too is more than he first seems to be. As for July, I confess that her self-regard is still a lot to take, but she's actually the most crucial character of "The Future" and she conducts herself just fine. Part of that may be because deep down she understands these people and their anxieties. That recognition cuts through the occasional smarminess: Like her characters, she knows that no amount of posturing can shield us from those sleepless nights when our seemingly perfect world suddenly makes no sense anymore. Not even cutesy cat narration can save you then.
Grade: B+
