Adult Adoption review — The Queen of Twee

Directed by Karen Knox | Written by Ellie Moon | 90 min | ▲▲△△△ | on Digital and VOD

I have to say off the top I’m not a fan of indie quirk, nor am I of the shaky-cam. It hasn’t been a good thing in feature films since Dogme 95.  I understand it though — the technique is an immediate shorthand for intimacy, and it’s so hard for talented filmmakers in Canada to make a feature look special when its done for the price of a couple of BMWs.

This is the story of Rosy (the writer, Moon), who was raised in the foster system and aged out of it. Now in her 20s she finds herself lonely and rudderless. She decides to look into adult adoption, which until this movie I didn’t know was a thing.

Rosy’s “dates” with prospective “parents” are delightfully cringe. As you’d expect, despite her efforts to go into this in good faith, the motivations of those in the older generations aren’t immediately clear but do become so over time — they can be awful and predatory. But I appreciate the film’s overall theme of “We all have to find ways to be responsible adults no matter our damaged origins,” and the examples of fully grown-up people who’ve missed the boat.

Adult Adoption is deeply committed to the quirk, complete with its pastel production design and bopping soundtrack — those who can plug into what it’s offering will I’m sure enjoy its whimsical charm. When the picture reaches for Miranda July-style absurdity and awkward humour it works, in places.

All that said, Adult Adoption is just so precious it made me want to play Slayer at top volume to cleanse my brain of its yoga-infused, sugar-packet-opening, wool-blanket-gifting bijou pretensions.

About the author

flawintheiris

Carsten Knox is a massive, cheese-eating nerd. In the day he works as a journalist in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At night he stares out at the rain-slick streets, watches movies, and writes about what he's seeing.

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