I am pleasantly surprised that this little indie film, with actors no one would necessarily consider bankable, yet who are very talented, somehow managed to get an audio description track. I think the selling point here is the fact that disability is actually central to the story, which you would think would initiate the demand for accessibility across the board. Sadly, that’s not true. I would point toward Netflix and its release of Color Book this summer, a film where a disabled youth was at the center of the story, yet the film did not have an audio description track. Simply because it’s part of our world does not mean we all get to walk in it. And yes, that was a Little Mermaid reference. And no, I’m not really sure why.

Where Did the Adults Go? is an interesting family drama, and I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. Someone attached to the production reached out to me, noting that they were far more likely to get a review from a disabled critic, especially one who platforms audio description. And, like occasionally happens, it hit my spam folder. Luckily, they persevered and reached out a second time. Otherwise, I would have missed it. How dare this film land in my spam folder? I’m going to have to talk to those spam managers. Written and directed by Courtney Marsh, Where Did the Adults Go? centers on three siblings returning to their wealthy, recently deceased parents’ second home. Cynthia, played by Carey Cox, predominantly uses a wheelchair to get around and is hoping she can convince her brothers to sell the second of their parents’ two homes. It doesn’t seem like that would be a tough ask, considering these are all adults who should have their own lives, and their parents apparently also left them a house in Virginia. Yet Bryce, played by Amadeus Serafini, seems dramatically opposed to selling, arguing that it isn’t the right time. He’s pretty obstinate about it, suggesting Cynthia got herself into her own financial troubles by quitting her job after her first book did well, and it’s her fault that her second did not. Miles, played by Carson MacCormac, is the younger brother and initially seems more empathetic toward Cynthia and understanding of why her proposition makes sense. But Bryce’s refusal basically puts Cynthia’s entire plan at a standstill.

I’m familiar with Cox from The Handmaid’s Tale, where she played Rose Blaine, Nick’s wife, and even though I vaguely remember that character, I am quite taken by Cox and her performance here. I’m also familiar with Serafini because I was a big fan of Scream: The TV Series back in the day, where he played Kieran Wilcox. I really enjoyed the first two seasons of that show. The later reboot with RJ Cyler and Keke Palmer was not quite as fun as I had hoped it would be, but Serafini certainly left an imprint. Here, he gets to play an entirely different kind of character, and the dynamic among these three actors is what ultimately carries the film.

Not only is Where Did the Adults Go? great for disability representation, but it’s also great for queer representation, since Cynthia has a wife who is mostly heard over the phone but is mentioned throughout the film. That is certainly a niche demographic: queer and disabled, being doubly marginalized. One of the things that’s nice about this film is that Cynthia’s disability is prominently featured in subtle ways, but it isn’t the central element of the story. These are her brothers, and since they’ve known her their entire lives, they would naturally have a different dynamic with Cynthia than friends she met along the way, strangers, or even her own partner. These three have a lot of deep history between them, and we don’t get to see all of it. They reference things that happened when they were younger and what growing up together was like. It’s clear these kids grew up with advantages. Even though Cynthia is disadvantaged by a world that isn’t always accessible, her family had money and the resources to help accommodate her. This second home they’re visiting even has an elevator inside. That’s a choice. Even wealthy people picking out a swanky house don’t necessarily think, “We need an elevator to get from the first to the second floor.” But if you had the money to do so and your daughter used a wheelchair, you would think you’d want to make sure that whenever she visited, she felt welcome.

There’s also some backlash surrounding Cynthia’s book, which, from Bryce’s perspective, reflected negatively on their parents. That’s something he seems to deeply despise about Cynthia and her choices, while Miles is less confrontational. I like how Marsh’s story traverses what it’s like to be of this generation because we are, in some ways, treading water. We are not necessarily in the same place our parents were at the same age. The choices we make, combined with the realities of our jobs and income, lead many people to a point where they don’t necessarily own a home or feel financially secure. While the film isn’t quite willing to dive into the politics of all of that, even though it brushes against them in an off-the-cuff statement, it does show us three siblings who don’t entirely have their lives together. No one here is uniquely successful with no help from anyone else. These three do not have it all figured out. Even Bryce, who acts like he does, obviously does not. He’s taken on the role of parent when nobody asked him to, and since he hasn’t been able to perfectly manage his own life, how can he be expected to manage everyone else’s?

Serafini does a wonderful job playing this gruff, all-business, no-nonsense brother who thinks his way is the only way, while Cox gives Cynthia several different levels as she tries to patiently negotiate while remaining resolute in her ultimate goal. MacCormac gets slightly less to work with as Miles, but he works well in all of the scenes where he interacts with his siblings. I thought all three actors did outstanding jobs, with maybe a couple of lines that didn’t quite work for me. Serafini has one line referencing Cynthia’s politics and suggesting that somehow her voting contributed to her current financial distress, but the film doesn’t really explore what exactly that means. I feel like in a family where they would have those kinds of conversations, they would get into it. It wouldn’t just be something casually brushed past. There would be history to it. It would feel like an old wound opening up.

There’s another line Cynthia delivers that initially didn’t feel right to me, but I think it didn’t feel right because Cox herself doesn’t quite seem comfortable with it. Cynthia is explaining how her life is made more challenging because of the lack of accessibility, and I don’t know if there’s perhaps a disconnect between those who have been disabled most or all of their lives versus those who are more recently disabled. For me, going on nine years, I find myself constantly talking about accessibility. My entire reason for being here is to talk about accessibility and audio description. Even though the people close to me don’t necessarily need a lecture, I’m never shying away from a committed conversation about advancing accessibility. I don’t just give them a pass because we’re close. I try to point out when there’s an accessibility gap and how that negatively impacts my life. There’s something about the way Cox delivers this particular line that makes it feel less organic to Cynthia than everything surrounding it. Maybe it’s simply a different lived experience. Maybe the line itself was always a little too preachy. Either way, it’s the only moment in Cox’s performance that didn’t work for me, because the rest of her performance is terrific. It’s particularly interesting that this is the one line that explicitly platforms Cynthia’s disability, when the film otherwise does such a strong job of allowing her disability to exist naturally within her character.

It made me think about Mike Leigh and his process of developing characters and material through extensive work with his actors rather than simply handing them a conventional finished screenplay on day one. I wonder whether a little more of that collaborative approach might have helped here. Since Marsh’s film relies so heavily on Cox’s performance and Cynthia’s lived experience, if something in that dialogue didn’t feel natural, perhaps there was another way to communicate the same idea while making it feel completely organic to the character. That’s a minor criticism, though. This is an emotional journey, and these three actors have a showy, meaty script they can really dig their teeth into. Yes, there are a couple of dialogue bombs that didn’t quite land with me, and probably the most disappointing thing is the ending. I really thought the movie just ended without enough resolution, and it wasn’t particularly satisfying. I was surprised that was the choice Marsh made to end the film. But it was a choice. It just didn’t work for me. It might work for someone else.

I also thought the representative for the film who made sure I got an accessible screener was adorable when he made sure to tell me who was behind the audio description. He immediately cited Liz Gutman, just in case I didn’t know who she was. Of course I know who Liz is. We’ve spoken many times. I’ve been on her podcast. I’ve reviewed dozens of her films. So the fact that she was writing the audio description immediately piqued my interest, and of course the script is excellent, as usual. Coming along for the ride was Jamie Lemcheck as the audio description narrator, bringing life to Liz’s text. Jamie does a lovely job handling the emotional weight of the film, and Liz and Jamie have always worked so well together. It’s a very symbiotic relationship, like the audio description version of Laverne and Shirley. I love that there isn’t even a company credited here, just writer and narrator. Based on this combination, I could probably guess where the track originated, but I’m not going to. Either these two worked through one of the companies they’ve been associated with, or they broke out on their own and did this independently. Either way, it’s still a fantastic job.

Where Did the Adults Go? is a fantastic look at family dynamics and what it means to be in the middle of adulthood and still not have your life together, still feeling like you’re stuck in second gear. And when it hasn’t been your day, your month, or even your year, hopefully you can still rely on your siblings to hear you out and help you through it. It also has a disabled lead right in the middle of the film and authentically casts Carey Cox in that role, yet the entire film is not uniquely about her disability. Marsh finds ways of making sure Cynthia’s disability is very much a part of the story without allowing it to become the controlling force behind it. I think that’s what makes this feel like a real family drama. I don’t think a real family would constantly be talking about their sister being in a wheelchair when that is nowhere near the reason they’re all meeting in the first place.

Please go out and see this film. Rent it. Watch it on a streaming service when you see it pop up. Hopefully, it will travel everywhere with its audio description track so you can hear the wonderful work done by Liz and Jamie. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight of Where Did the Adults Go? and how it pulls you into this family while allowing three lesser-known actors to shine in ways they haven’t previously had the opportunity to. Definitely check this one out.

Fresh: 8.0/10