Written and directed by Selma Vilhunen, a middle-aged couple who, in the middle of an infidelity crisis, decide to open their marriage and venture into polyamory. Starring: Alma Pöysti, Eero Milonoff, Oona Airola, Pietu Wikström, Iivo Tuuri, Kaija Pakarinen, Esko Roine, Emilia Sinisalo, Saaga Salo and Vilhelm Blomgren.
Approaching the topic of polyamory is often done with younger characters, and treated in a more experimental, and typically unsuccessful, manner so to switch things up and explore how it could work for a middle-aged married couple is a nice change of pace. While that is true and by the time that the credits roll on Four Little Adults it has found an interesting path, the journey along the way is rocky. The primary issue is that when the plot kicks off, it all feels quite competitive, childish and driven by one-upmanship or a desire to hurt the other person.
It’s not a great way to get people into this story, it doesn’t feel as though it’s taking the topic seriously and it ultimately takes too long to settle in. That combative nature undermines the progressive attitude, but once it does eventually find its footing, there’s an interesting conversation to be had about commitment and public versus private lives. Although, one particular sticking point is the character of Matias (Eero Milonoff). He’s the crux of how their polyamory begins and yet, it’s hard to believe that one, let alone two women would desire a relationship with him.
He simply has no charisma, he says as little as possible and he’s almost always sullen and irritable. The women do occasionally talk about his vibrant qualities but we never see them. Whether that’s down to the underwhelming performance of Milonoff or the writing is slightly difficult to tell. Whereas Alma Pöysti, Oona Airola and Pietu Wikström all bring a huge deal of personality to the table and are engaging to watch. The same goes for the direction and cinematography, Four Little Adults is visually strong, it has great colouring and a well done mix of shots for an overall compelling, sharp aesthetic.
Four Little Adults sadly takes too much work to arrive at its destination, there’s a solid foundation and good conversation to be had but it struggles to get there. There’s a lot of clunky ground to tread through which keeps the audience at arm’s length, which is a shame because once you dig a little there are some engaging characters to be found, with the exception of Matias, who feels like a misstep. The story had potential and it’s shot very well but everything simply doesn’t come together.
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