[7]

Writer/director Miranda July also stars in this Cannes and Sundance Film Festival winner about people trying to connect with each other in an age when culture and technology make that connection more challenging. The film seems to be saying that we are all experiencing this difficulty, but July's characters are so quirky and awkward that Me and You and Everyone We Know is as much an absurdist fairy tale as it is social commentary. Either way, it's an interesting film full of bizarre relationships mined for greater truth than for exploitation. Take a six-year old boy's on-line relationship with a mysterious woman who agrees to "poop back and forth" into each other forever. Or a grown man's sexually explicit window signage for two teenaged girls that pass by his apartment every day. July doesn't play these up for laughs, but instead takes them to realistic and surprising conclusions. When the teenaged girls become curious and knock on the man's door, he hides in fear. And when the boy agrees to meet his sexting partner, the potential nightmare is revealed to be something sweet and tender.

Not all of July’s characters are into sordid encounters, though. John Hawkes co-stars as the object of July’s affection. He’s a shoe salesman, recently separated and trying to be a good father to his two sons. But as much as he wants to be an influence in their lives, they’d rather spend all their time on the internet. July plays an artist and cab driver trying to will her dreams to become a reality. Their growing relationship is the backbone of the story, unfurling in some sort of childlike wonder. All the adults are a lot like children in this movie — curious, fearful, and naive. And the children are the ones engaging in traditionally adult activities. The kids have sex and talk of marriage, while the adults catch their hands on fire for attention and throw tantrums.

If you’re looking for a poetic take on themes of ‘connection’ and ‘isolation’, this one may interest you. For a more realistic take on these ideas, Roger Avery’s The Rules of Attraction comes to mind.