Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard play mother-and-son in When You Finish Saving the World (now on Netflix), an eccentric little pseudo-satire written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who’ll forever be remembered for not only playing Mark Zuckerberg, but almost making him seem human. This is Eisenberg’s directorial debut, which debuted at Sundance 2022 before fizzling into relative obscurity; his second effort, A Real Pain, was a hit at Sundance 2024, the film garnering raves for Kieran Culkin’s performance. And it’s therefore difficult not to consider When You Finish the stepping stone to something better, since it has no shortage of talent and ideas, even if they don’t always coalesce in a satisfying manner.
The Gist: Is it just me, or is Ziggy’s (Wolfhard) music borderline insufferable? He plays goofy strummy lo-fi folkish songs coursing with his trite teenage feelings, and as a firm Gen-Xer, I’m tempted to say he makes Daniel Johnston sound like Mariah Carey. He speak-sings in a rather nasally and grating manner, but a firm Gen-Xer should be happy he’s actually playing a guitar and not using his mousepad as an instrument and trying to be the next great annoying DJ. Anyway, Ziggy livestreams his little songs to a loyal internet audience, and barely sees it as an avenue for expressing himself – it’s more about counting his followers, and counting the money he gets from the platform’s monetization program, so I think my not being nice to him is at least somewhat justified.
Ziggy’s parents don’t seem too keen on his music either, moreso because they don’t understand it. His mother Evelyn (Moore) is a Conscientious Liberal type, a Smart Car driver working as director at a shelter for domestic abuse victims; she’s more than a little bit shrill and pinched and high strung. His father Roger (Jay O. Sanders) is almost a nonentity in a house occupied by two significantly large personalities. One day Evelyn comes home and tries to open Ziggy’s door while he’s livestreaming, and he berates her and installs an obnoxious flashing red indicator light, which is one step away from being the Kenny Rogers Roasters sign right outside Kramer’s window.
Ziggy and Evelyn feel like they have nothing in common. But in reality, they have two: One, a sense of alienation from each other, and maybe among their peer. And two, a compulsive need to connect with a person who doesn’t seem particularly interested in their company. In Ziggy’s case it’s a girl at school, Lila (Alisha Boe), who’s very politically aware, and barely tolerant of Ziggy’s desperate attempts to sound more intelligent than he is, attempts that quickly evolve into self-indulgent braggadocio about all the people who watch his livestreams. For Evelyn, it’s Kyle (Billy Bryk), who just moved into the shelter with his mother; Evelyn forces her way into the life of this well-spoken and thoughtful teenager who’s more than happy to help out with little repair projects at the shelter, and in general is looking more like the son Evelyn wishes she had. Ziggy tries to impress Lila at the local socially aware teen open-mic night and Evelyn does her damnedest to fast-track Kyle to a good college, but both are overbearing tryhards glomming onto people who don’t like being glommed onto. I’m also not sure either makes for a particularly sympathetic movie protagonist, either.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Eisenberg seems to be inspired by the lived-in eccentricity of Noah Baumbach’s dramedies like While We’re Young or The Squid and the Whale (which notably features his breakout acting role).
Performance Worth Watching: I’m torn by Moore’s performance. As ever, her screen presence is magnetic, and she eventually finds and shares Evelyn’s softheartedness. But the character’s peccadilloes – vocal affectations being the big one – at times feel too contrived to be believable.
Memorable Dialogue: Kyle’s mother Angie (Eleonore Hendricks) chats with Evelyn at the shelter:
Angie: Kids are just pure love, you know what I mean?
Evelyn, in the most unconvincing tone ever: Mm hm.
Sex and Skin: None.
Our Take: Be thankful When You Finish Saving the World clocks at only 88 minutes, because if it were any longer, you’d want to pitch Evelyn and Ziggy into the sea. They’re grating, selfish characters. To be fair, neither seems beyond redemption; they’re not vile people, just a little too self-involved, and neither seems interested in actually listening to each other. Although Eisenberg’s screenplay renders them a bit thin and muddled, they inspire just enough of a twinge of empathy for us to hope they find a way to connect lovingly as parent and child. Wolfhard’s performance taps into a familiarly realistic strain of teenage narcissism, and Moore shows just enough self-reflection beneath Evelyn’s overwrought faux-sincere mannerisms to nicely complicate her psychology.
Outside of the core cast efforts, the film’s peculiarities never cohesively gel. Somewhere in this story is an arch poking-of-fun at White, upper-middle-class liberals: One gets the sense that Evelyn has grown weary of thinking about others and turned to herself; Ziggy only wants to be well-informed to impress a girl, who’s too shrewd to not see right through his bullshit. Eisenberg seems to be aiming for comic satire with moments of sincerity, but that’s a tricky tonal line to walk, and although he comes close, the near-miss finds the film flailing thematically. It plays like a vignette or short story that would work better as a novel, and its characters lack the depth and sharply drawn wit to render them wholly believable.
Our Call: When You Finish Saving the World is an admirable effort, but it doesn’t come together as a satisfying whole. On to Eisenberg’s next stint behind the camera, then. SKIP IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
