Grief meets cosmic chaos in this animated oddity where cartoon aliens meddle in human sadness.
Mona is nearly overwhelmed by grief and depression. After her father's death, she's cut herself off: leaving teaching - she now temps as an office assistant, ignoring her mother's calls, talking to herself in mirrors, and rejecting any offered intimacy. She's watched over by comic extraterrestrial beings whom we see as cartoon squiggles. They ensure that random acts bring her connections - with a neighbor boy, his mother, and his surreptitious piano teacher (the lad wants to surprise his mom). She also meets an elevator operator in the building where she temps for Ms. Hadaway, a widow with perfect diction. Can Mona take a few steps on the road to expressing emotion?
Acting
Lily Rabe's fragile stillness—every blink is a decision not to cry.
Writing
Dialogue that sounds like overheard subway poetry, in the best way.
Director
Emily Hubley
Lily Rabe
Mona Peek
Daniel London
Elevator Man
H. Jon Benjamin
Police Officer
Kevin Corrigan
Hector Freegood
David Cross
Timmy (voice)
Jane Lynch
Honey Strumpet
Eugene Mirman
Night Elevator Man
Xander Berkeley
Dad
Richard Cox
Stalker Timmy
Ann Dowd
Honey Woman
Jon Glaser
Tooot
Sakina Jaffrey
Lacticia Utt
Mary Kay Place
Mom
John Sayles
Cramden
Marian Seldes
Eunice (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Emily Hubley comes from animation royalty—her parents founded Hubley Studios (Sesame Street, Doonesbury). This is her defiantly personal live-action debut.
David Cross voices a cartoon police officer while Jane Lynch plays a widow with 'perfect diction'—this cast is a 2009 indie time capsule.
US
