SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU
(director: Jay Duplass; screenwriter: Adam Cayton-Holland, based on the memoir “Tragedy Plus Time” by Adam Cayton-Holland; cinematographer: Jay Deuby; editor: Jay Deuby; music: Jordan Seigel; cast: Cooper Raiff (Aaron Whistler), David Duchovny (Robert Whistler), Kaitlyn Dever (Leah Whistler), Hope Davis (Page Whistler), Lucy Boynton (Emily Whistler), Ariela Barer (Camila), Poorna Jagannathan (Dr. Anya); Runtime: 102; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Fred Bernstein, Jay Duplass, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, Adam Cayton-Holland; Winter Coat Films; 2026)
“A restrained dramedy about grief that’s too restrained.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A restrained dramedy about grief that’s too re restrained and never could say what I think ordinary people would say in that situation. It’s directed solo by Jay Duplass (“The Baltimorons”) without his younger brother Mark as partner, and it abandons his earlier ‘mumblecore’ style. Adam Cayton-Holland bases the screenplay on his memoir “Tragedy Plus Time.”
Flashbacks reveal that the not always likeable Denver resident Aaron Whistler (Cooper Raiff, director-turned-actor), a young comedy writer and stand-up comedian, found the body of his beloved best friend younger sister Leah (Kaitlyn Dever), who committed suicide. Her suicide left him a mess dealing with PTSD (in need of EMDR therapy), depression, and a drinking problem. During this time of grieving he reaches out for support to his former girlfriend Camila (Ariela Barer), a social worker, only to push her away when she comes too close.
Everyone in the family is trying to cope with the tragedy in their own way.
Paige (Hope Davis), Leah’s mom, gets into her conservation work of saving the vanishing Sage Grouse as a means of not thinking about the tragedy, and keeps secret there’s a cancerous lump in her breast. Like her son, she doesn’t want a funeral.
The grief-stricken father Robert (David Duchovny), a civil rights attorney, feels better when he talks freely about it with others. Leah’s older sister and dad’s law partner, Emily (Lucy Boynton), tries to keep things to herself, hoping she can get on with her life by remaining quiet.
The focus of the story is on how Aaron deals with his grief (playing the stand-in for Adam Cayton-Holland). But I would have preferred if the story focused instead on how Emily deals with grief, as she’s the character I could most identify with.
It played at the Sundance Film Festival
REVIEWED ON 2/9/2026 GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com