The Get Together, the new film directed by Will Bakke, begins with social media clips of the real-life, often alcohol-fueled mayhem that has been impossible in the COVID era. Hangout films are a longstanding genre, but with such carefree silliness impossible for so long, it’s suddenly possible to feel nostalgia for those experiences. And intentional or not, that sort of wistfulness is appropriate for The Get Together, a movie about a wild party with a streak of genuine melancholy and thoughtfulness at its center.
The film, cowritten by Bakke and Michael B. Allen, is told in three parts. The first follows August (Courtney Parchman), a recent-ish college grad clinging to her friendship with best friend/roommate McCall (Koko Marshall) like a lifesaver. Left alone for the night while McCall goes to a work function, August picks up Caleb (Alejandro Rose-Garcia) as an Uber driver and delivers him to a party. For various reasons, August is soon sucked into the party too and through her, we’re gradually introduced to the other characters and storylines that will drive the film’s following two sections.
Though the viewer doesn’t initially know which characters will become important later, much of the pleasure of watching The Get Together unfold is seeing how each plot thread intersects and overlaps. When August trips over some wires in the first part and knocks out the outdoor string lights, it has major consequences for the characters who lead Part 2 and the drama of Part 2 is what gives Part 3 its emotional stakes. However, while the film’s construction is ultimately an asset, it also initially makes it hard to invest.
While the film eventually becomes an ensemble piece, August and her storyline are our entry point and if viewers have a hard time connecting with her, they may have trouble connecting to the film at all. August, with her obvious insecurity and simmering terror about her future, is a familiar figure from movies about becoming an adult and Parchman plays her as neurotic, messy and needy in a way that’s at turns endearing and off-putting. She’s so consistently embarrassing that some viewers may find her unrealistically ridiculous, but the bigger obstacle to rooting for August is how quickly we’re asked to do it. The audience is supposed to be upset at the potential breakdown of McCall and August’s friendship and the actors do a fine job of going through those motions, but because we see so little of that connection before it’s at risk of breaking apart, it doesn’t feel like the film justifies any emotional investment and the storyline can come off feeling shallow and rushed.
Though the storytelling’s brevity can certainly be distancing, the film’s trickiest element is its tone. That’s perhaps most pronounced in Part 2, which follows Jacob Artist’s character, Damien, as he tries to propose to his girlfriend, Betsy (Johanna Braddy). In each part, the main characters of the storyline are played with total seriousness while the secondary characters surrounding them are various degrees of ridiculous and that emotional sincerity often clashes with the absurd comedy. The best example is Lucas (Chad Werner) a goofy fool who went to high school with Damien and seems desperate to be his friend now. Lucas is meant to be ridiculous–and he is–but he’s also obnoxious in a way that quickly ceases to be funny the more he misreads social cues or screams every other line. Indeed, Damien and Lucas feel like they’re in two different movies and the film constantly struggles to balance real emotional stakes and outrageous comedy throughout.
Thankfully, the film’s serious side eventually wins out and it’s surprising that Part 3 manages to deliver satisfying endings to each of its storylines. Still, though The Get Together sticks the landing thanks to some strong performances by Braddy and Rose-Garcia, it’s overall told in such broad strokes that the emotional stakes may not feel as heavy as they should. However, that’s kind of the point. Bakke is making a hangout movie, the kind that plays in the background during a chill gathering between friends. It’s not supposed to be a centerpiece, but a nonabrasive element that adds to a bigger vibe. Its absurd, alcohol-fueled laughs and sudden moments of profundity are meant to help create the very vibes it also mimics. The film is perhaps not a game-changing entry in the genre, but it’s pleasant enough to at least leave the viewer thinking of it and the time they spend watching it fondly.
