At Sundance: The Future

Sundance (Out of Competition, Premiere Category) – Kimberly Gadette looks at Miranda July's follow-up to her well-received 2005 Me and You and Everyone We Know. July's still dissecting the modern relationship but rather than beginnings, we start in the middle -- and travel far far away from there.

An unseen, crackly-voiced talking cat opens the film by asking, "Have you ever been outside?" The voice, we realize, belongs to filmmaker/star Miranda July, who uses it to express extreme loneliness, want, the promise of "home" with all its weighted meanings. She hurts our hearts with this cat named "Paw Paw" who can't wait to be reunited with Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater). But Paw Paw is sick, and must stay at the vet's for 30 days before he can be picked up by his adoptive family. As the cat speaks, we only get to see the front paws -- one fat and adorable, the individual toes dancing with expression, and the other, thickly bandaged, moving every now and then with a fragile creep.

We know we're being played, hearing this cat yearning for the thirty days to pass, a seeming eternity to wait for love, and we know things may end badly – but July draws us in just the same.

She is a filmmaker unlike any other, working tangentially in the modern neuroses of a Woody Allen, a Nicole Holofcener, while concurrently playing in the kingdom of magic realism. Initially, the film looks to be about a thirtysomething couple adrift, trying to reinvent themselves before they're tied down for years by their committing to Paw Paw – and before it's too late, they will quit their dreary day jobs, turn off the internet and finally dream their dreams. Jason, looking for a sign from the universe, ends up selling subscriptions for future trees that might someday save the planet while Sophie decides to dance thirty brilliant dances, one per day, for all to see. But she soon becomes paralyzed by the task.

They are a magnificent couple in their symbiosis, looking alike with their twin mops of curly hair and sinewy limbs; sounding alike with their quietly-stated ridiculous senses of humor – and when they share an intimate moment, their chemistry jumps off the screen. If ever there was a couple suited for each other, it's these two. But since July is merciless about fear and ego overriding, dare we say it, true love, the couple's relationship is in danger. Outfitted in conservative '50s clothes, Sophie travels to another land (Suburbia) to find something dull and safe; Jason stops time to try to reverse the damage.

The language is utterly unique. When Sophie glances at herself in the mirror, she bemoans her looks. "I wish I was just one notch prettier ... I'm right on the edge. I have to make my case with each new person." Or on the futility of not meeting one's goals by the age of fifty: "It's just small change ... less than a dollar. Not enough to get anything you want."

Though the film initially seems slanted toward Sophie, it's ultimately Jason who is the protagonist, the one who understands commitment, who would fix Sophie if only he could. But he's also wise enough to know that no one person, not even if that person could stop time, can cure another's broken soul.

For those of us who think that thirtysomethings aren't in life crisis, this film bespeaks a very real terror. What about having a family? A long-term career? Making a difference in the world? Instead, it all just may be some vague drift, part-timing in life, marking the days ... thirty days here, thirty days there, until someone or something comes to claim you and give you a life. How about it? Please?

It's a sober, funny, beautiful film. It's not what we're used to seeing, and needs some time to marinate in the brain ... but it's well worth the effort.

Rating on a scale of 5 dramatic Paw-Paws: 4

Written and directed by: Miranda July
Cast: Hamish Linklater, Miranda July, David Warshofsky, Isabella Acres, Joe Putterlik
Running time: 91 minutes

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