Adult Life Skills

Written and Directed … Rachel Tunnard
Cinematography … Bet Rourich
Runtime 96 min Color

Cast
Jodie Whittaker …Anna
Lorraine Ashbourne …Marion
Brett Goldstein …Brendan
Rachael Deering …Fiona
Eileen Davies …Jean
Alice Lowe …Alice
Edward Hogg …The Snorkeler
Ozzy Myers …Clint
David Anderson …Luke
Andrew Buckley …Postman
Christian Contreras …Hank

Anna ( Jodie Whittaker) is facing her 30th birthday and living in a garden shed in her grandmother’s backyard. She does does manage to hold down a job as a councilor at a small local day camp and as has a playful way about her for someone that is emotionally withdrawn. We watch as she makes videos about two people in a spaceship on the way to the sun, using her thumbs with simple faces drawn on them to substitute for actors. Anna keeps the collection of videos in a box and has a website, that it seems, only she knows the web address. She is grieving the loss of her twin brother and she is frantically attempting to preserve their memories.

As her birthday nears, her mother demands that she grow-up and move out of the shed, and on with her life. Her mom and grand mom keep dragging her to see apartments, all shown but a real estate agent/ friend that clearly has a crush on her. While they clearly have some connection, he is nearly as socially awkward as her. When one of  Anna’s old school friend  returns to town, she does manage to drag her to a club for a night of drinking and dancing. We get to see a glimpse of the fun-loving woman she once was, and could be again.

At work, she is assigned to watch an eight year old boy who’s father is working out of town and who’s mother is dying. Through their relationship  they both grow stronger and find a path to move forward while still holding on to their fond and important connections to those they lost.

The movie is filled with warm, likable characters, and is lighter and funnier that my plot description implies. The director Rachel Tunnard answered questions  after the screening where she expressed her interest in making film dealing with the death of a twin, and exploring the question if your twin dies are you still a twin. She also revealed her joy of being able to build a film around her close friend  Jodie Whittaker, (pregnant during the film shoot) as well as  also casting family members in some rolls. Adult Life Skills is a moving, yet funny film.