Shadows on the Wall | Charlie Harper

Charlie Harper

dir Mac Eldridge, Tom Dean
scr Tom Dean
prd Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Laura Quicksilver, Patrick Wachsberger, Ashley Stern
with Emilia Jones, Nick Robinson, Kareemah Muhammad, Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson, Sebastian Delascasas, Jonathan Gregg, Jessica Blackmore, Nicholas Cirillo, Virginia Tucker, Gralen Bryant Banks, Eduardo Losan, Justin Mekdessie
release US 25.Sep.26
25/US 1h42

TORONTO FILM FEST

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Flickering around in time, this romantic drama is framed by nostalgic scenes as a young couple reminisces separately about their relationship. Filmmakers Mac Eldridge and Tom Dean create a warm, entertaining vibe that pulls us in, even when the plot points become a bit insistent. It's wistfully assembled and honestly performed, while the script explores how important it is to remember the messy parts of our lives.

Former classmates Harper (Jones) and Charlie (Robinson) run into each other years after leaving high school, playfully teasing about whether they remember each other. Their relationship blossoms as they move to New Orleans and Harper pursues her dream to become a chef. But she worries that the brainy Charlie is simply happy with whatever he's doing, and also that he drinks too much. Over the following years, they split and meet again, trying to understand who they are together and also others. They are also attempting to make some sense out of decades of memories.

While there are plenty of welcome moments of offhanded humour and earthy honesty, much of the film has a rather over-serious tone. Much of the tension centres around how Harper's clear-eyed ambition about her future clashes with Charlie's acceptance of life as it comes. So her pushing leaves him feeling deeply insecure. Their arguments are skilfully played, bracingly authentic and difficult to watch. Although the soft-spoken dialog is often drowned out by the surging musical score.

Hugely likeable, Jones and Robinson are engaging and natural, creating an easy sense of Harper and Charlie's chemistry together. These are complex, fascinating, very different people who make a great couple, even with their distinct differences. The actors shine in both the giddy romantic scenes and the much darker drama. And they also create sharp interaction with side characters who remain in the margins, friends and colleagues who are living their own lives off-screen.

The salient question here is whether their memories are telling them the true story: the start and end of a relationship are razor sharp, but the middle blurs into a wave of experiences and emotions. At its core, the film is exploring the push and pull over the years, as these two people try to make sense of the connection that pulled them together as well as the space between them. Even with its fragmented structure, the plot is rather tidy, but this charming film is both swoony and weepy in equal measure.

themes, language, sexuality 22.Sep.26

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