When You Finish Saving the World - A Sundance Review

Who knows what kids know about their parents.

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022, When You Finish Saving the World is a film about a mother and son constantly at battle with one another. Seeking out replacements, they each experience life-fulfilling lessons.

Sundance Film Festival is an extraordinary venture. Everyone should look into it, whether physically or virtually. I immediately put this film at the top of my list when I saw who was starring in it. When You Finish Saving the World details complex characters and their relationships.

The main reason why I was excited to see this film was that it starred the talents of Finn Wolfhard and Julianne Moore. The two actors had fun establishing their mother-son relationship. Filled with a lot of bickering, this relationship is more important than you think.

Playing the usual moody kid, Ziggy is an oblivious teenager trying to understand the world. Gloating about his Internet fame, Ziggy has a lot more to learn if he wants people to notice him. His behavior got on my nerves at times. In hindsight, we all see some of ourselves in Ziggy - particularly the teen years.

Aside from his well-timed comedic comebacks, Wolfhard entertained audiences with his guitar-playing. Improvising a few of the songs heard on-screen, Wolfhard collaborated with the director.

Exploring a woman who has a lot locked up and doesn’t have many ways to express it, Evelyn discovers outside sources. Moore was great at finding this character's inner journey. Parents can relate to Evelyn. It’s hard to raise a teenage son because they tend to keep to themselves.

All the characters had nuances. Despite having a small part, I enjoyed the dad (Jay O. Sanders) who sat amongst the bickering. At first, I wished that he had a bigger part, but then again, this is Ziggy and Evelyn’s story.

Alisha Bos was another highlight. I liked her approach to her character. Teen love is tough. Bos and Wolfhard performed wonderfully together, even in a heated argument. More credits include Billy Byrk, Jack Justice, Eleonore Hendricks, Catherine Haun, and Annacheska Brown.

Do you know what element that When You Finish Saving the World has that not many movies hold? A mother-son relationship. It gets the limelight. That’s a change from the usual mother-daughter dynamic that we always see in films. The dynamic between a mother and son needs to be explored further. I am glad that this film does that.

In Jessie Eisenberg’s directorial debut, he built the dynamic amongst the characters. As he noted, relationships needed to be evident. He made this a personal story based on his own experiences growing up. The shots were set up well. I also liked the locations used and Evelyn’s small car. I got a kick out of that.

Eisenberg puts a central focus on the social media world. If you ever go on social media either as a blogger or Youtuber, remind yourselves of the truth. Just because you have a certain number of followers doesn’t make you the top of the world.

This film is all about finding your inner person. We don’t have to like what others value. We don’t always have to do what we intend to do. When You Finish Saving the World is all about learning to value and understand your family. It may seem like a simple story but there’s so much more to it.

I had the best time viewing this film at Sundance. I am looking forward to when it is released so more audiences can have a look at this film.