Contemporary 2021 Selection: C'mon C'mon (2021)

 Mike Mill's "C'mon C'mon"

Mike Mill's "C'mon C'mon" is a film that doesn't offer any answers to its own reflective questions. Rather it relates the viewer to its story through the human experiences happening on screen. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as an interviewer named Johnny, as he travels the country interviewing the children of America, asking them questions about the future, their community, and themselves. Johnny's semi-estranged sister, Viv, needs Johnny to take care of her 9 year old son, Jesse, while she goes to tend to the boy's father, who is seeking mental treatment. 

Johnny and Jesse try to navigate the complexity of life and of their own emotions. With this picture, the viewer is able to relate to the human experiences of being a child, being a parent, and being a human being. Much like Johnny's exestential questions he asks to his child subject, the film asks those questions to the viewer through it's navigation of its human subjects. Johnny must confront the complexities of his emotions as well as the often frustrating and illogical emotions and actions of his nephew. And with these navigations, there is no simple answer. Regardless, the characters must confront their own inability to deal with their life and relationship, as they must talk them out to each other. 

The exploration of internal emotional health seems to be Mike Mill's recognition of the upcoming generation. As Johnny interviews young children, they appear very emotionally intelligent. So does Jesse. With the help of Jesse, along with Viv's book on emotional assistance, Johnny is able to navigate the bitter feelings he's kept inside over his relationship with his mother, his sister, and her huband. With this device, Mills seems to acknowledge the changing dynamic in emotional well-being, which the younger generation is growing up being heavily evolved in. 

The film is shot in black and white. The cinematography is not sharply contrasted, so the viewer is able to watch the film through the greyer tones on screen. These grey tones held administer the messy complexity of the character's emotions. The characters are constantly emotionally bumping up against each other, leading to moments of frustration and eventually compromise. This compromise only ever comes in the form of recognition of this complexity. Since the characters have to accept that its okay to accept the messiness of how they feel, the grey color tones of the film mirrors that.