“This Too Shall Pass” feels like someone bottled up the music, the fashion, the teenage angst, and the overall spirit of 1987 and let it loose on a road trip across the Canadian border. Director Rob Grant clearly loves the decade, and it shows. The movie is drenched in ‘80s nostalgia, from its killer rock soundtrack to its warm, slightly faded color palette that makes you feel like you’re flipping through your old yearbook. If you grew up during that time, this one’s going to hit you right in the feels.
The story follows 16-year-old Simon (Maxwell Jenkins), a kid who’s totally over the strict rules of his Mormon upbringing in Syracuse, New York. Tired of church curfews and cultural guilt trips, Simon does what any self-respecting teenager in an ‘80s movie would do: he steals his dad’s church money and convinces his buddies to hit the road to Ottawa for a spontaneous weekend getaway. What starts as a rebellion to impress a crush quickly spirals into a series of misadventures involving sketchy locals, lost cash, and a few painful lessons about growing up.
The plot has all the elements of a great coming-of-age movie, from ride or die friendship, bad decisions, and those moments of uncomfortable truth that somehow feel funny and sad at the same time. The young cast brings the perfect mix of charming and goofy, and they’re totally believable as lifelong friends. You genuinely want to hang out with these guys, even when their choices make you cringe.
The film finds a nice blend of sincerity and hindsight. While it captures the reckless energy of being sixteen, you can tell it was written by an adult looking back (and someone who remembers both the fun and the ache of that kind of freedom). The film also takes a surprisingly thoughtful detour into Mormon culture, using Simon’s crisis of faith as a lens for bigger questions about identity, guilt, and what it means to find your own path. It’s not preachy and is just observant, which gives a nice twist on the usual coming-of-age formula.
The movie does stretch its story too far (with a few of the wild situations pushing the boundaries of believability), which makes it feel like it drags on a bit too long. But the minor hiccups are easy to forgive when the film is this warm, funny, and full of heart. The soundtrack of 80s rock gems alone makes you want to roll the windows down and drive nowhere in particular.
By the end, the movie doesn’t try to hammer home any grand moral or wrap things up neatly. Instead, it just lets these kids stumble, screw up, and grow, which is exactly how it should be. “This Too Shall Pass” might not be perfect, but it’s a spirited, nostalgic, and big-hearted ride that reminds you what it felt like to be young, lost, and free for a weekend.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 