Review of Person to Person (2017) by David C — 20 Jan 2017

Person to Person.

Premiering at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, it is just possible the film "Person to Person," written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa, will usher in a new wave of film making. It is one of the most unique, fully realized films I've ever seen. At each moment, "Person to Person" stays true to its characters' lives from beginning to end. It is a deeply felt, deeply feeling film, never shying away from delving deeper into each character's emotional life in a manner that is almost Shakespearean. In that way it constantly surprises. Every moment when you fear it's about to slide into something patent or untrue, it brings you deeper into the story and into its characters' lives.

The acting is uniformly flawless, emotional true, closely held, never forced. Bene Coopersmith and Tavi Gevinson are particular standouts, as is the always excellent Philip Baker Hall. The characters evolve in short monologues, never once running away from the emotional dilemma's life leads them to, the characters dig into themselves, struggling to unveil their inner life. In that way, the script is akin to Shakespeare's monologues wherein the characters' ruminate on their dilemmas, their inner lives, and illuminate us.

It is a small miracle of a film that will delight you and, most remarkably, might, as all great art can do, deepen your humanity.

Written and Directed by Dustin Guy Defa Cast: Michael Cera, Bene Coopersmith, Abbi Jacobson, Michaela Watkins, Philip Baker Hall, , Ben Rosenfield, Tavi Gevinson, Olivia Luccardi.