Films dramatizing and making light of the mid-life crisis have long been the territory of white men. The genre tends to be chock-full of navel-gazing and glamorizing destructive poor life choices spawned from the painful cocktail of the acute loss of youth and the burgeoning fear of contemplating one’s mortality, whether it be creepily chasing after a much younger woman (American Beauty) or rashly thrill seeking (City Slickers). One could easily assume that this entire genre had completely jumped the shark to the level of stereotype, until you realize that turning focus on anyone other than a white man opens up a whole new range of fun and deliciously cringe-worthy foibles to exploit. Enter: The 40-Year-Old Version. Premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning the US Directing Competition Award, and starring, written by, directed by, and produced by powerhouse Radha Blank, this film breaks open the genre, in the process creating a stiff contender for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
If that wasn’t enough fresh, rarely tackled storytelling for you, the story digs further, highlighting amazing actor Peter Kim as her hilarious Asian and gay best friend Archie, who is wrapped up so deeply in Radha’s journey that he finds himself on his own path in the process, and opens the door to some devastatingly funny next-level and sorely-needed serious discourse around the intersections of solidarity and harm between marginalized communities. Shifting the focus from the white-gaze to the lens of communities of color interacting with each other and finding healing is welcome and utterly refreshing.
Dir. Radha Blank, R, 129 min. Netflix
