Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: NO FUTURE [Tribeca Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The bleakness of humanity can be a hard pill to swallow. Even surrounded by people, there can be a sense of isolation unless someone can really understand what they are looking it or going through. "No Future" [World Premiere/2020 Features] was originally meant for last year's festival and it is more a diatribe on pre-pandemic textures but perhaps reflects a dimmer reflection of what people consumed by addiction would have experienced X10. Charlie Heaton (also seen as Jonathan on "Stranger Things") functions at the center of story as Will who is trying to pull himself from the depth of addiction. There is some perception of the fuel that began the dissolution of his family but it is not clearly said or explained. He is buoyed by his new would-be girlfriend Becca who is also a nurse it seems. It is the most dramatically center role Rosa Salazar (known for "The Maze Runner" and "Battle Angel: Alita") has really had but she seems to have much more she could do (although it is hard to say depending on the kinds of roles that interest her]. The thankless role of the supportive girlfriend is below the caliber of what she is capable of doing. She does it adequately and one scene (where she puts on a record which Heaton doesn't want her to play) you see that knife edge but just the glimmer. Catherine Keener plays another person suffering from loss that Will is connected to via friendship and grief. And while the progression of the relationship and why it happens makes sense, its execution just isn't believable. Plus there is another possibility in Jackie Earle Haley who is barely used. The read is that the film has so much prevalent genre talent that could have been used to much better effect. Granted this is a story of path but it never moves up in a level worthy of its participants despite good intentions. C

By Tim Wassberg