The film is aimed at the sensibilities of those that the internet likes to call “90s kids”, or a rather closeted generation that lives by a limiting code, but at the same time, it carries a gaze that makes a caricature out of the very progressive generation whose worldview it wants to put forth. The depiction of people undergoing group therapy, and nomads, stops just short of coming across as cartoons. There’s the overpainted vehicle, the dreadlocks person, Bob Marley-esque music, etc. These are humans too, how about we tap into that beyond their physical aesthetic? Or probably at least give a glimpse into why this happens to be their aesthetic?
But this is not a film that wants to understand counterculture as much as it wants to merely depict it. “Live free, live young” says a lyric, “friendship is the new madness” says a text card, “peace” is something the characters keep seeing, you get the routine. What makes it all the more awkward is how the actors don’t quite feel at home with these distant eccentricities. There are moments where there’s a usage of slow-mo to ramp up the emotions, but they made me feel zilch. There’s also a lot of momentum in the music to make the dramatic moments more potent, but it’s felt neither in the story nor in the performances.
