With her comedy-drama “Smile…The Worst is Yet to Come,” director and co-writer Chloe Lenihan understands life rarely falls apart all at once. More often, it happens quietly through accumulated disappointments, postponed dreams, and the slow weight of grief. That’s exactly where this story begins.
Ben (Joseph Mancuso) and Birdie (Elizabeth Masucci) are an “elder” millennial couple whose marriage has been worn down by failed IVF treatments and career setbacks. Hoping a weekend away at Big Bear Lake will help them reconnect, they instead find their retreat interrupted by January (Krystina Alabado) and Jerek (Ethan Jones Romero), an exuberantly irritating pair of Gen Z influencers whose carefree online personas quickly expose the cracks Ben and Birdie have been trying to ignore.
The story is an awkward collision between generations that grows increasingly reflective. Through an alcohol-fueled night of storytelling, long buried frustrations rise to the surface. The film never paints either generation as right or wrong, but instead examines how each defines success, happiness, and fulfillment in completely different ways.
What I appreciated most is how honestly the film handles disappointment, never searching for villains or tidy solutions. Failed IVF, stalled careers, financial pressure, and the quiet (and very real) grief of mourning the life you thought you’d have are treated with empathy rather than melodrama. The arrival of the influencers also gives the story another layer, contrasting the polished performance of social media with the messy reality that most people keep hidden.
The independent production gives the film an unvarnished sincerity that works in its favor. Conversations feel lived in, and the characters often sound like real people trying to explain feelings they don’t fully understand themselves. Even when Ben and Birdie are at their lowest, there’s genuine warmth underneath the hurt.
The pacing, however, can be a challenge. Once the couple reaches the cabin, the story settles into a very slow rhythm. Long silences and repeated arguments capture the exhaustion of a struggling relationship, but they also cause the middle section to lose momentum. By the time the emotional breakthroughs arrive, the film has asked for a fair amount of patience. It’s just not all that fun to watch a couple argue over and over again.
Even so, there’s a lot to admire about “Smile…The Worst is Yet to Come.” While the film wrestles with whether it’s possible to let go of the life you imagined and still find hope in the one you have, its unresolved ending leaves just enough room for optimism to make the emotional journey feel worthwhile.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 