No Future movie review & film summary (2021)

This is grim material and the screenplay by Mark Smoot (who also co-directs with Andrew Irvine) tries to negotiate a path between reality and melodrama with occasionally mixed results. For example, the moment that Will fails to immediately inform Claire about Chris’ visit that fateful night, it becomes obvious this information will end up being deployed, almost like clockwork, at about the 70-minute mark and the fallout will be used to drive the final scenes along. The film also has a tendency to introduce supporting characters and then fails to give them a purpose other than to help keep the narrative moving. 

At the same time, “No Future” contains moments of bracing realism and honesty that stand in stark contrast to the more contrived moments. The affair between Claire and Will may sound like a twist worthy of a soap opera but it does work here as a way, however ill-advised, for these two to try to counter the annihilating sense of grief and guilt they are feeling. While they are unable to be honest with each other, the two do just that with strangers in a pair of especially wrenching scenes—Will speaking in front of his 12-step group and Claire confronting a couple of young women that she thinks is talking about her and her late son. (If you still need proof at this late date as to the brilliance of Catherine Keener as an actress, I advise you to watch the latter scene and learn.) I also admired how the film does not try to wrap things up in a neat little bow by offering simplistic solutions to problems that rarely come together in real life. That sense of narrative ambiguity, along with its lack of easy resolutions, will no doubt frustrate some viewers. But to end it any other way would be a betrayal of both its willingness to tackle hard issues and the strong high-wire performances from both Keener and Heaton.

So no, “No Future” is not exactly “entertaining,” at least in the classic sense of the word. However, that's more than offset by the raw power the film generates in its best moments as it goes to emotional places few movies these days even attempt to visit. "No Future" may not be a good time, but it is a good movie that, despite its occasional missteps, is still well worth seeing.

Now playing in theaters and available on VOD.