Sundance Satire Mocks the Grindset

Directing music videos easy. All you have to do is sit there, act confident, and never let you have no idea what you do. The customer is likely foolish; Tell them that the end result will be “cinematic” and is usually silent. And if someone already starts to press, say you “must check your product.” This will buy you some time.

This is the advice that Pasqual (Pasqual Gutierrez) of Doppelgängr (somewhat shorter, but whatever) rented him to take his place in the “Return” group of the great artist in Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson. Hybrid “Jadoun people“The marital, and the idea of ​​replacing one, is often horror in movies. Here, being a subject of replacement as relief, as Pasqual struggles to balance his career as a successful half -duo directing with the imminent parenting demands.

The feeling of absurd pressure includes “serious people”, which fortunately does not take the Pasqual world from the CLOUT chase and the self -declared “noise” at all. Pasqual realizes that it is absurd to miss the birth of your first child because you are photographing a scene where the rapper throws fake money on women dancing on the pillars. However, children are expensive, and these jobs are paid. a lot.

It is sufficient to purchase a convertible BMW with vanity plate that reads “Cliqua”, the name Gutierre is used for its projects with RJ Sanchez. Sanchez also plays himself in filmAnd in real life, the duo took out videos of Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Travis Scott and Rosalia. In “serious people”, he is Drake-whose manager represents here on Zoom, with PA with a laptop as a substitute for him-who makes their lives difficult. Pasqual and RJ’s partnership gives “serious people” some real risks: if the PASQUAL plan is wrong, as you will definitely do, it is not only his career in danger. It is RJ, too.

But the most interesting relationship in the film is not between Pasqual and RJ, or even between Pasqual and his wife Kristen (Christine Yuan, as it is the same), which is apparently performed by this entire argument. The dynamic between Pasqual and Miguel dual (Miguel Huerta), for some reasons: First, Miguel Farhan. Many of the many loud movie moments come from Huerta and its performance, whether it uses my cheese capture lines on a Christine friend or screams about Marvel and Imax movies.

But Miguel – who comes from East Los Angeles, just like Pasqual – also represents the mixed PASQUAL feelings about its output from his old life and in the creative layer. It is Cruder, more facing, less dependent on the methods of lawyers and financiers than Pasqual and RJ. Once it is presented with marginal benefits to the PASQUAL position, it turns into its huge knowledge and its evil twin almost immediately. But Baskwal defends him, saying that Miguel reminds him of himself. “It is like glorious counseling,” explains to RJ annoyed.

There is a bracket layer of racist comments for the PASQUAL Plan: The film opens with a scene of the Pasqual Holding tests for itself (again, horror movie shades, i.e. Takashi Mike). This course is through a series of Mexican “types”, that clean shaving from the ridiculous fashion mustache on the mustache. A great source of inspiration for this idea was the fact that people often confuse RJ and Pasqual. Therefore, PASQUAL is ridiculous, if the people who work with them cannot know the difference anyway, then any Mexican man is similar to enough of it. right?

All this builds to a peak that does not differ An episode of “Bring your enthusiasm”, “ A comparison supported by the conditions under which “serious people”. Scenes were launched in Paskwal and Christine apartment in her actual home; A baby scene is filled with their actual friends, including coach Mullinkossus. The beginning of the project was not in contrast to the beginning of the PASQUAL scheme in the movie, and the end of the ends showed Guterres and Ywan with their real daughter, who was born shortly after the film wrapped.

Yuan is actually pregnant in the movie, and a negative aspect of “serious people” that focuses on the inner struggle of Bingwal is that she often fell to the role of an annoying wife. It is funny like the men around her – “I wish you were your phone, so you were touching me all the time,” she complains – and there is a parallel movie that reveals from her point of view where her husband is gradually replaced with FuckBoy Cookie a copy of himself. The film provides some time for giving moments, and a scene at the OB-GYN office makes a dry sarcasm of the American health care system, which feels its roots in the experience. But the balance is another dead element in a film based on it.

Many of the “serious people” were improvised, playing the fictional versions of themselves. Fortunately, they are all attractive people who are used to the presence of cameras, so they feel natural on the screen. More importantly, these dynamic channels are real screen tensions in the screen confrontations, which add an emotional fact to the situation with Pascawal’s life out of control. The film stumbles a little at its peak multiple, but it recovers well for the funny stinger.

Even the optical style, which alternates between the expressive closeness and negative outline, reflects a mixture of currency and reality. Whatever the “reality” that it means when you live in a flashy world of smoke and famous mirrors, in any case. When facing real life challenges, the first motivation for the movie maker is often the production of a movie around it. The “serious people” with smart and self -self is the best possible result in this scenario.

Row: B+

The “serious people” was shown in 2025 Sandans Film Festival. It is currently seeking to distribute us.

You want to remain in view of the Indiewire movie Reviews And critical ideas? Subscribe here To the newly launched newsletter, in a review of David Ehrich, in which the editor -in -chief of our main critics and the head of reviews collect the best new reviews and broadcast choices with some exclusive reflections – they are all only available to subscribers.