This Too Shall Pass

by Mike McGranaghan

This Too Shall Pass is one of the year’s most wonderful surprises. If you were a teenager in the 1980s, it will especially ring a bell. That was a time when John Hughes movies were giving adolescents stories they could identify with but also selling unrealistic fantasies to them. Writer/director Rob Grant (Harpoon) doesn’t let that irony go unnoticed. His late ‘80s-set coming-of-age comedy is infused with the spirit of Hughes while simultaneously offering an antidote to his homogenous world view.

Teenage Simon (Maxwell Jenkins) is a Mormon whose parents expect him to live up to almost impossible moral standards, leading to frequent head-butting. He’s got a crush on Shelley (Nikki Roumel). Just when it seems like they might get together, she heads off on a family trip to Ottowa, making an offhand comment before leaving that it would be more fun if he was there, too. After a particularly horrendous clash with his dad, Simon decides to have his John Hughes moment by crossing the US/Canadian border to surprise her. Accompanying him are his loyal friends: jock Chris (Jeremy Ray Taylor), goth Tim (Ben Cockell), cinephile James (Jaylin Webb), and acerbic John (Adian Laprete).

Shelley is creeped out by his unexpected presence, leaving the guys stranded in a foreign country. Then they meet a local girl named Misty (Clown in a Cornfield’s Katie Douglas) and her friends. What follows is a lot of drinking, a lot of smoking weed, and a lot of personal revelations.

The characters in This Too Shall Pass reference ‘80s teen movies a lot. They’ve seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Say Anything… At one point, they have a debate as to whether such films are really about “the optimism of youth.” This sets up a charming quality wherein, by embarking upon this adventure, they’re expressing their own youthful optimism. As they did for a generation, those pictures provide a blueprint for chasing dreams and taking risks in the name of love. What Grant does differently is to populate his story with characters who aren’t all white and one who is trying to figure out if he’s gay. That makes it feel more honest than most of its inspirations.

There’s a nice mix of comedy and emotion here, too. Many scenes generate big laughs thanks to the witty interplay between the characters and the sometimes-ridiculous situations they find themselves in. Other scenes develop their arcs in relatable ways. Simon’s inability to please his parents, Misty’s reluctance to fall for a guy she may never see again, and Tim’s questioning of his sexuality add depth to the movie, allowing it to be much more than a 1980s nostalgia piece. The film has a huge heart.

All the young performers do fine work, and of course there’s a killer soundtrack consisting of ‘80s classics. And yes, it takes place in Canada, so Corey Hart is duly represented. This Too Shall Pass deserves to be embraced by modern audiences the same way The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink were by the audiences of their time.

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