Sundance Review: Julianne Moore And Finn Wolfhard In Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘When You Finish Saving The World’

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Although Jesse Eisenberg is well known to movie audiences due to starring in films like Zombieland and his Oscar nominated role in The Social Network, he is becoming a force elsewhere in the arts with a series of plays, short stories, and New Yorker pieces all now leading to a smart, funny, knowing, and entirely accomplished first feature as writer and director.

When You Finish Saving The World, making its World Premiere tonight at the (virtual) Sundance Film Festival puts a different spin on familial relationships as it travels on two tracks centering on an activist workaholic socially concerned mother whose disappointment with her teenage son’s more frivolous pursuits leads her in surprising directions, just as that boy tries against all odds to pursue a bright and desirable girl at school who is deeply involved in political causes.

It is a very funny conundrum for both mother and son as they venture away from each other while becoming the last to discover they actually are alike in more ways they ever could have imagined.Maybe it is his experience in working with directors on the scale of David Fincher and Noah Baumbach, but Eisenberg proves himself to be a true natural behind the camera and a sharp observer of the human condition, never laying anything on too thick but discovering a quirky commonality we share in a world becoming more divided.

That chasm is played out here in a family unit where ultimately love and connection will hopefully prevail. The fun, as in the best human comedy, is how we get there.It is also not at all surprising to see an actor of Eisenberg’s skill turn out to be a sharp guide in getting pitch perfect performances from his stars Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard, as well as an exceptionally