In 'Stranger Things' And 'Little Men,' The Kids Are All Right
This summer, the best entertainment comes from an unlikely source: teen boys.
Two remarkable new releases ― the debut season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and the movie “Little Men” ― make heroes of adolescent males who are wiser and more daring than their age implies. Amid a dearth of quality blockbusters and the doldrums of summer television, “Stranger Things” and “Little Men” are out of place. They are subtle and affectionate, with charming young characters whose optimism defies the stubborn adults around them. The respective creatives responsible for “Stranger Things” and “Little Men” channel the agony and ecstasy of youth, deftly showcasing the limitlessness of childhood. If only these fussy parents would stop getting in the way ― if only they dared to dream. And if only more of our summer fare had been this lovely. (Minor spoilers ahead.)
By now, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about “Stranger Things.” The Spielbergian genre hybrid, created by twins Ross and Matt Duffer, premiered to glowing reviews last month and lit up the online water cooler. The imaginative 12-year-old Dungeons & Dragons obsessives at the show’s center will stop at nothing to retrieve their friend, Will, from the mysterious Upside Down underworld. Horrid monster, alternate dimensions and skeptical townsfolk be damned.
“Little Men,” the latest from “Love Is Strange” director Ira Sachs, is a different beast. Its monster is not a brisk humanoid with a tulip-shaped head ― it is merely the changing tides of life, the unavoidable forces that shift the course of our relationships and our surroundings. When artistic 13-year-old Jake (Theo Taplitz) moves to Brooklyn with his parents (Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle), he bonds with Tony (Michael Barbieri), an aspiring actor hoping to get into the same performing arts high school that Al Pacino and Nicki Minaj attended. Jake’s late grandfather was a dear friend of Tony’s mother, Leonor (Paulina Garcia). He was also the landlord who oversaw the unprofitable dress boutique she maintains. Jake’s grandfather avoided raising the rent on Leonor’s store, even as real-estate costs in gentrified Brooklyn soared. When Jake’s parents demand Leonor pay five times her current rate, the notion of compromise ― evident to their offspring ― barely registers among the adults.
Newsletter: The Yodel
Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox
See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
Despite disparate settings and genres, “Little Men” and “Stranger Things” grapple with the same idea: Where adults’ imaginations are limiting, children’s are endless. If only parents, the supposed guideposts for all that is proper, could channel their kids’ wherewithal, things might not be so contentious. In the worlds of “Stranger Things” and “Little Men,” maturity replaces ingenuity, and problems become harder to solve because adults can’t blaze through their own rigidity and/or cluelessness.
Of course, Jake’s parents in “Little Men” are fair to ask Leonor to pay more in rent, even if the rift upsets the kids. Had she haggled for a smaller increase, maybe a resolution would be possible. Instead, Leonor doles out insults and disregard, using her relationship with Jake’s grandfather as ammo for why she should be exempt from economic change. Her unwillingness to brainstorm an alternative ultimately gets her evicted. And Jake’s dad won’t entertain any appeals about what his own father would have wanted him to do. Only Jake proposes a solution. Whether or not it’s realistic, at least it’s a starting point. The children are the future.
“Stranger Things” divides most of its adults into two camps. There’s Will’s instinctual mother, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), and there’s everyone else. Desperate to find her son, Joyce will talk to blinking Christmas lights and take an ax to her walls if it means saving Will from the Upside Down. Will’s trio of friends, aided by the E.T.-like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), has no doubt their pal is alive, and each of the show’s eight episodes finds them concocting ever more creative ways to reach him. As for Karen (Cara Buono), Mike’s poised mother? She thinks Joyce is losing it, yet she has no idea a girl is living in her basement and a boy is sneaking into her daughter’s window. Police Chief Hopper (David Harbour) comes around, but he, too, first treats Joyce like a distressed lunatic. And yes, of course it’s hard to believe that a monster is roaming through town, sucking preteens into some abyss. But the kids in this Indiana suburb use their fascination with fiction as a way to believe that anything can become a reality. Adulthood has stripped the grown-ups of their ability to imagine the fantastical ― or at least, like the “Little Men” parents, the faculties to find creative solutions to the ideas with which they are presented.
As summer crawls to a close, I am happy to let these wily kids reign supreme. Since most are underdogs who’ve banded together against their peers, seeing them come into their own in the face of conflict is a victory unto itself. By the time they leave high school, their intellect and dexterity will give them an edge. But while they endure the social pecking order of adolescence, their unbreakable loyalty saves the day, or at least has the potential to. The odds they’re up against become more astonishing and contentious, but they never stop supporting one another’s ideas.
The themes of both “Stranger Things” and “Little Men” revolve around solidarity. Jake and Tony display it by not speaking to their parents until the rent dispute is resolved, and it shines through in Will’s friends’ willingness to chance whatever peril might bring him home. Where most adults are stubborn spoilsports, these kids are low-key heroes, and 2016’s popular culture is more inspiring with them in it.
“Stranger Things” is now streaming on Netflix. “Little Men” is now in select theaters.
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
Also on HuffPost
"Little Men"
Starring Greg Kinnear, Theo Taplitz, Michael Barbieri, Jennifer Ehle, Paulina García and Talia Balsam
Five of Ira Sachs' six feature films have premiered at Sundance, including grand jury prize winner "Forty Shades of Blue" and the beloved "Love is Strange." An adept surveyor of the quiet facets of relationships, Sachs has turned his attention to two 13-year-old boys who find kinship while their parents reconcile a Brooklyn rent dispute. "Little Men" is a sweet digest on young friendship and the pliable paths life takes us down.
"The Birth of a Nation"
Starring Nat Parker, Armie Hamer, Aja Naomi King, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjanue Ellis, Jackie Earle Haley and Gabrielle Union
After "The Birth of a Nation" earned three standing ovations at its premiere, Fox Searchlight paid $17.5 million -- the heftiest deal in Sundance history -- to secure distribution rights. It's not cynical to assume the ongoing conversations surrounding diversity in Hollywood bolstered the movie's reception. But that's not to take away from the stirring passion of Nate Parker's debut feature, which brings Nat Turner's 1831 slave rebellion to the big screen for the first time.
"Manchester by the Sea"
Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol and Tate Donovan
"Manchester by the Sea" is the best movie this year's Sundance gave us, and Amazon took note via a $10 million price tag. Kenneth Lonergan's directorial follow-up to "You Can Count On Me" and "Margaret" is a display of grief and endurance, charting a reserved Boston handyman (Casey Affleck) caring for his nephew (Lucas Hedges, destined to be a star) after his brother (Kyle Chandler) dies. Lonergan has an eye for the quiet complexities of inner turmoil, but he also knows how to pepper his movies with the right splash of humor. You'll walk away from this movie feeling like you just witnessed a beautiful meditation. But what you really won't forget is Michelle Williams' bravura performance as Affleck's charged wife.
"Weiner"
When the inevitable documentary detailing how the hell Donald Trump became an ascendant presidential candidate premieres at Sundance circa 2018, we'll hopefully say how much it reminds us of "Weiner." Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg first began chronicling Anthony Weiner's 2013 mayoral campaign in hopes of capturing a comeback story. Instead, they ran into another sexting scandal and a fiery defeat. The results are fascinating.
"Kiki"
Twenty-five years ago, "Paris is Burning" scorched Sundance, winning one of the festival's grand jury prizes. "Kiki" revisits the queer voguing scene now that gay rights are no longer a subversive notion. For all its spunk, Sara Jordeno's documentary reminds us that no equality law ensures ostracized youth don't wind up destitute. The ones in "Kiki," at least, have battled their woes by way of the dance communities they call home. The movie is an ode to their resilience.
"Christine" and "Kate Plays Christine"
Starring Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, J. Smith-Cameron, Timothy Simons and Maria Dizzia
"Kate Plays Christine" directed by Robert Greene
For a meta double feature, try Antonio Campos' drama, "Christine," and Robert Greene's docudrama, "Kate Plays Christine." Both revolve around Christine Chubbuck, the Florida news reporter who shot herself on live TV in 1974 and has remained a media mystery ever since. Rebecca Hall is remarkably complex as Chubbock in "Christine," while "Kate Plays Christine" chronicles Kate Lyn Sheil ("House of Cards," "Listen Up Philip") researching Chubbuck for an upcoming role.
"Southside With You"
Starring Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter and Vanessa Bell Calloway
Knowing Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson's first date ended prosperously doesn't distract from the sweetness of "Southside With You." Nor does the fact that Richard Tanne made a movie about a sitting president with distinct, often parodied mannerisms, yet still made the future Obamas' "Before Sunrise"-esque meeting feel like a story worth telling. This snapshot of the world's most famous couple, and the things they may have discussed when they went to see "Do the Right Thing" in 1989, is rendered all the more beguiling thanks to Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter's performances.
"Captain Fantastic"
Starring Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Kathryn Hahn, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd and Steve Zahn
That "Captain Fantastic" photo looks like quintessential offbeat Sundance fare. But Matt Ross' film is far more grounded than Viggo Mortensen's vermilion suit implies. Mortensen plays a bohemian father raising his six whip-smart kids in the woodlands of the Pacific Northwest, until circumstances require the clan to reassimilate with society. The sweet humor and world-weary awe of "Captain Fantastic" earned a standing ovation at its premiere.
"Sing Street"
Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Aidan Gillen and Maria Doyle Kennedy
"Once" and "Begin Again" director John Carney made another toe-tapping gem in "Sing Street," his latest musical about people forming a band. This time, a 15-year-old boy revs up his musical aspirations to impress a girl. Set in 1985, "Sing Street" is the Duran Duran devotion you always wanted to have stuck in your head.
"Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You"
There's an old saying that to become a legend one must become the subject of a rote documentary. Or there should be, at least. Thankfully, Norman Lear earned his legend card long ago, and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's movie is far from rote. Instead, it's a stirring portrait of the childhood and career of TV's most influential sitcom master. "Just Another Version of You" will open theatrically in June, before premiering on PBS and Netflix this fall.
"Under the Shadow"
Starring Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian and Arash Marandi
Festivalgoers instantly declared "Under the Shadow" this year's "The Babadook." The debut feature from writer/director Babak Anvari, this 1980s-set Iranian horror flick curdles around a mother and daughter coping with a war-torn country and a home invaded by supernatural evil. "Shadow" is one of several Sundance movies that Netflix snatched up, including the Ellen Page/Allison Janney two-hander "Tallulah" and the Paul Rudd vehicle "The Fundamentals of Caring." XYZ Films and Vertical Entertainment will also release the movie theatrically and across other digital platforms.
"Love & Friendship"
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Xavier Samuel, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry, Emma Greenwell and Morfydd Clark
"Love & Friendship" scored a coveted Saturday night Sundance premiere -- a strange choice for a festival not known for lush period pieces. In Whit Stillman's hands, the adaptation of Jane Austen's lesser-known Lady Susan feels entirely modern. Reuniting his "Last Days of Disco" co-stars, Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny, Stillman has made a biting brunch confection about a widow seeking suitable marriages for herself and her daughter. "Love & Friendship" will air on Amazon later this year, with a theatrical release also planned via Roadside Attractions.
"Morris from America"
Starring Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Carla Juri and Lina Keller
"Morris from America" made off with two Sundance prizes and a distribution deal courtesy of A24, the indie powerhouse du jour. One of those accolades went to Craig Robinson, who gives a career-best performance as a widowed soccer coach raising his aspiring-rapper son (Markees Christmas, a delight) in Germany. The other went to Chad Hartigan, who wrote a charming coming-of-age script about discovering your own tempo when everything seems alien.
"Swiss Army Man"
Starring Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead
If you've heard buzz about any Sundance movie other than "Birth of a Nation," it was probably "Swiss Army Man." You know, that's the one with Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse who helps a cuckoo Paul Dano find his way home. It's "Cast Away" for the smartphone era, perhaps as though Michel Gondry had rebooted "Weekend at Bernie's" with a little Hitchcock for added flavor. Some thought it was wild and inventive, others thought it was wild and insufferable. Find out for yourself when A24 releases "Swiss Army Man" this summer. The filmmakers, who go by The Daniels, won Sundance's directing prize, and there's no denying that Dano and Radcliffe commit to these bizarre roles -- and appear to have had a blast while doing it.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Solve the daily Crossword
