Chaperone
★★★ 1/2
Where To Watch: premiering at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival, www.slamdance.com
I vividly remember that time in my life when I was desperately trying to discover what the next chapter would be post-college. There’s a fine line between complacency and passion, and Chaperone is a film that captures the confusion of early adulthood perfectly. There are plenty of coming-of-age tales out there, but there aren’t many coming-into-responsibility stories to latch onto. Director/writer Zoe Eisenberg has created an intimate portrayal of a character who distracts herself with a future that is unrealistic instead of fixing the issues that are right in front of her.
Facing increasing estrangement from her close friends and family, 29-year-old Misha (Mitzi Akaha) is content with her stale job at a local theater in Hawaii and living rent-free in her deceased grandmother’s home. Without exhibiting any kind of drive for a roadmap to her life, she unexpectedly meets a vivacious 18-year-old athlete, Jake (Laird Akeo), who mistakenly identifies her as a fellow high school student. Discovering comfort in Jake's absence of demands and youthful zest for life, this new bond is paralleled by Misha's increasingly reckless behavior, ultimately leading to wounds that affect everyone in Misha’s life.
This story could have easily let Misha off the hook for developing this inappropriate relationship with Jake, but Eisenberg holds her characters accountable for their actions, despite genuine feelings that develop. Akaha brings a delightful vulnerability to her character. Her plight is relatable, yet, like her friends and family, you don’t blame them for constantly pushing her. There is always a fine line for motivating somebody because that sentiment can easily be mistaken for nagging. As an audience, we too feel the pressure of societal norms that are cast upon Misha, and how she handles such advances is understandable, though very self-destructive.
Though one may not connect specifically to Misha’s situation, everyone can relate to the frustrations of figuring out that next step in life. This movie features an entirely AANHPI cast, and you feel that authenticity in the characters in this small Hawai’i town from the unruly teenagers to the humorless cops. This story could have easily taken the easy route of wrapping everything up in a pretty bow, but by the end, Chaperone paints a picture of hope mixed in with uncertainty, which epitomizes the journey into adulthood.
