While The Adults lurches from amusing to cringeworthy in tone, it successfully zeroes in on the raw emotions that both bind and separate this quirky trio that can’t seem to harmonize again.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2023

A sad but affecting character study that has nothing like a plot but instead ruminates on loss, distrust and misunderstanding within a fraying family.

| Aug 19, 2023

Michael Cera delivers subtle greatness as an eccentric man visiting his sisters after years away.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 18, 2023

A warm, wry dramedy that finds fresh resonance and insights from the story of three siblings each trying to move forward in their own way.

| Aug 18, 2023

There is so much to feel from [Defa's] take on dysfunction, including how it presents siblings who can sing and dance in unison but are not friends. "The Adults" is defined by such crucial touches.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 18, 2023

Defa’s tight and tidy focus on communication — mostly verbal, sometimes role play (“Hug me like you haven’t seen me for three years,” Rachel instructs Eric) — adds a smart layer to this otherwise familiar tale of estrangement.

| Aug 18, 2023

It’s a sly, subtle screenplay and the trio of actors -- Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis -- are perfectly cast and make us feel the familial tension, stress and fallout.

| Aug 17, 2023

The wry and vulnerable simplicity of the musical numbers and the comedy routines suggests not just a realistic musical but an anti-spectacular one; the antics mesh with the drama not merely at the level of tone or style but at a conceptual one.

| Aug 16, 2023

"The Adults" is a testament to the transformative power of cinema, and a remainder of the importance of authentic, empathetic storytelling.

| Jun 17, 2023

The film affectingly captures the uniquely American ennui provoked by the banalities of a hometown and the lost utopia of childhood.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 21, 2023

A poignant work that occupies a dramatic space somewhere between Kenneth Lonergan and Whit Stillman – or that might be described as mumblecore Chekhov with a side order of Looney Tunes cartoon vocals.

| Feb 19, 2023

From... queasiness comes bristly tension, tautening and deepening what otherwise seems a low-key, low-stakes character study, and eventually a sweet, conciliatory sliver of hope too.

| Feb 19, 2023

A raw, sensitive, and true look at a family in flux with too much love to give and no tools to whittle it into something useful.

| Original Score: B | Feb 19, 2023