Finally premiering Thursday night at SXSW after a long gestation period, writer-director Victoria Strouse‘s hilarious dysfunctional-siblings comedy Seekers of Infinite Love proves to be well worth the wait. At periods over the past decade, it was planned for stars like Jennifer Aniston and others. Timing often is everything, and this one waited long enough to land Hacks Emmy winner Hannah Einbinder for a lead movie role, and she’s terrific here.
Essentially this is a road picture with three grown siblings in search of their youngest sister, who has fallen prey to an indoctrinated group called Seekers of Infinite Wisdom. Kayla (Einbinder), lawyer brother Zach (John Reynolds) and hot mess Wes (Griffin Gluck) have learned that followers are unaware of its leader’s plans two days hence to conduct a mass suicide a la the famous Jim Jones cult. Their goal is to find them and loosen their sister Scarlett (Justine Lupe) from the grip of cult leader Hal (Greg Kinnear), a pony-tailed con man who casts a spell on those susceptible to his charms — notably Scarlett, who ran from an admittedly dysfunctional group of siblings who may not realize they each have problems of their own.
They hire Rick (Justin Theroux), an “expert” deprogrammer in the field of dissecting cults and bringing victims out, who uses his connections to lead them in the direction of the Seekers — first to a seedy camp where they spend an awkward night and then a fateful top at a bar and finally back on the trail before it is too late. Along the way we learn much about this f*cked-up family and their own hang-ups, frustrations and failures as human beings desperately in need of familial love, and bonding in order to save one of their own. While Scarlett may be a “seeker of infinite love,” in their own way so is the rest of this family unit, even if they don’t know it. It is a fascinating dynamic that makes for an oddball comedy in the spirit of Little Miss Sunshine, which I kept thinking about before even discovering one of its stars, Kinnear, also turns up in this film.
Apart from Strouse’s smart and funny script, what makes this little gem hum are the performances starting with Einbinder, who is a complete natural onscreen, just as she is in Hacks. Kayla is someone who needs to find her way out of her own skin, a bit of lost soul who has a knack for the wrong relationships. That is fully evident when she loses control of the situation and allows herself to hook up with the lovestruck but bit-of-a-wacko Rick. This decision leads to trouble along the way and more friction with big lawyer bro Zach, who thinks he knows more than he does.
Reynolds is excellent, as is Gluck as the sad-sack Wes, who could also use some help just to get through the week. Theroux is a hoot as the cult fixer with a past, thoroughly having a blast as this mysterious guy whose shaky history is about to catch up with him. Kinnear had me at hello just with the look he created for this guru, and he plays it to the hilt, a nice change of pace and amusing character turn for the actor. Lupe shows up near the end and owns her scenes with an easy authenticity of someone content that they have found their tribe.
Smart, sharply written and directed comedies are a rare bird these days. Strouse (Finding Dory, Family Switch) takes a situation that easily could have sailed over the top, cast it intelligently and created some outrageously funny situations but kept it all grounded with an authentic family dynamic, its laughs earned, its heart beating.
Producers are Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Dylan Sellers, Chris Parker.
Title: Seekers of Infinite Love
Festival: SXSW (Narrative Spotlight)
Director-screenwriter: Victoria Strouse
Cast: Hannah Einbinder, Justin Theroux, John Reynolds, Griffin Gluck, Justine Lupe, Greg Kinnear, David Ury, Michelle Johnston, Andrea Pyle
Running time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
Sales agent: UTA
English (US) ·