In the film, we follow the filmmaker Josh and his wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts) as they develop a friendship with a young couple consisting of aspiring-doc-filmmaker Jamie (Adam Driver), and Darby (Amanda Seyfried) who live a free yet old-fashioned lifestyle. They make their own furniture while Josh and Cornelia probably shop at Ikea. Josh and Cornelia slowly begin to emulate and latch onto the younger couple. At first, everything is peaches and roses, but when they all begin to work on the same film project, the plot turns more sinister.
Perhaps Baumbach’s greatest strength as a writer-director is his ability to convey life in a piercingly accurate manner. Just like with Frances Ha, so many lines in While We’re Young caused me to feel Baumbach was reading my mind. Additionally, he communicates better than most that, in life, the tragic and the comedic are inextricably linked.
Instead of a tiresome formulaic plot, to which many of last year’s most praised films—such as The Imitation Game—adhered, While We’re Young lays out a free-flowing series of moments and interactions. Significant events and turning points from different spheres of life overlap and blend, creating an overwhelming and unusual (in cinema), yet hauntingly familiar (in life), series of feelings and sudden realizations. While We’re Young is worth seeing because of its refreshing take on filmmaking alone, but it also entertains throughout with consistent humor.