Their Town

One of the best films on the festival circuit this year, and a likely Christmas 2026 hit, Mark and Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons follows two very different but troubled adults as they wander through a city and gradually develop a deep connection. This film, written by Mark, produced by Jay and directed by Katie Aselton, feels like a variation on he same story, focused on a younger generation. It’s not quite as polished, but it too has buckets of charm.

Screened as part of SXSW 2026, the film follows Abby (Ora Duplass, Mark’s daughter, in her first full length feature) and Matt (Chosen Jacobs). She’s a theatre kid whose boyfriend Tyler (William Atticus Parker) has just dropped out of the school play. He’s a kid who just signed up to do lighting tech but is chosen as a replacement when nobody else steps up. He’s a bit confounded by the whole acting thing and not sure he can remember the lines, so she offers to help.

After visiting one another’s houses – his lonely because his parents are elsewhere, hers lonely because her mother isn’t – they end up wandering through a small corner of their town (Bangor in Maine). As a teenager, one doesn’t tend to have a large territory, nor to have much of a history. Their town consists of only a few streets and a fenced off location which they both have fond memories of, which Abby is keen to break into, with a white girl’s casual attitude to risk. They share stories of what they’ve said and done in the past, much of which harks back to early childhood, reminding us that although they look almost like adults, they’re still not very far away from that.

Mark is very good at getting into that headspace without patronising this characters; and at recognising that being young does not mean having no serious problems to deal with. He also scatters the film with small comments which remind us how different their outlook is from that of preceding generations. The world they will inherit is not expected to improve in their lifetimes. Humanity may not make it.

“There’s nothing in there that relates to our reality. It’s all rosy,” says Abby of the play, and shrugs. “It’s nice to pretend sometimes.”

Is this a love story? Perhaps, but romance isn’t really the important thing. Both these young people will be moving on to other things in life soon anyway, and romantic relationships rarely survive that. Much more important, for both of them, is finding somebody who can recognise who they are as people and make them feel that they matter all by themselves. With this in mind, though there’s none of the sex or death or shocking discovery that usually signals a coming of age film, this might be the first conversation each of them has as an adult. By finding one another, they are able to undergo a shift in perspective, to become willing to decentre themselves and prepare to join wider society.

Astutely observed and sensitively performed, Their Town finds dramatic power in small things, and centres hope in small places.

Reviewed on: 16 Mar 2026