8/12 ForReel Score | 3.5/5 Stars

There is, it is fair to say, often generational divides. One that we are living through today is between millennials (who are now in their 30s and 40s) and boomers (who are now mostly retired). Boomers grew up in a world that had ample opportunity, and a more fair distribution of wealth, whereas millennials have grown up in a world where they were told that if they achieved certain goals they should expect certain outcomes, and those outcomes often did not materialize. Wages are stagnant, cost of living is up, and wealth inequality is greater than it has been in living memory.

This is obviously a generalization (though not an unfair one), but this understanding of generational inequity creates a good setup for a dark comedy; a down on his luck millennial and his pregnant wife unceremoniously move in with his retired and well-off boomer parents, and the disparity between their two positions in life bring rise to conflict. This is the premise for Birthright.

Cory (Travis Jeffrey) and Jasmine (Maria Angelico) have been evicted from their rental property. Pregnant and victims of a downturned economy, they head to Cory's parents home to stay while they look for a new place to live. His parents, Richard (Michael Hurst) and Lyn (Linda Cropper) are stereotypical boomer parents: older, living in a large house, and reasonably wealthy. Richard worked hard all his life, and now they are enjoying the fruits of that labour, and don't understand why Cory and Jasmine haven't been able to buy a home and once again need financial help and support.

At first it seems like this would be a vehicle for pretty standard family drama, but Birthright goes further with it than most would expect. Richard already doesn't approve of Cory's choices, and sees his son as a failure. His moving in, even for just a short time so they can get back on their feet, isn't a bridge too far, but the start of the bridge burning is already beginning to smolder.

What follows is a conflict that will make you cringe and laugh in equal measure. Each interaction between these generations is fraught with resentment and anger, and not just monetarily. As the film goes on, Richard becomes resentful simply of having a younger man in the house and things become a strange macho contest that will feel familiar perhaps to the least fortunate of us.

Jeffrey and Hurst are both excellent in their roles. Jeffery has to embody desperation in such a way to feel familiar and sympathetic but also kind of pathetic, and he nails it. Hurst has maybe the most fun of anyone in the movie as his character, Richard, goes to enormous lengths to assert himself but stops just shy of being a cartoon, and just in the right range of malevolence and bitterness. You'll hear arguments that hit close to home for everyone, and other arguments that are so out there they must be inspired by someone's real life because they're too bizarre to make up.

Similarly, Cropper is the dutiful wife who seems to have some affection for her son but also defers to her husband in basically all things. She has some of the best scenes trying to walk this line being trapped between love and ingrained allegiance. Angelico has the thankless job of being perhaps the only adult in the house; she just wants their baby to be born safely, but she knows from the get go that this is never going to work and her frustration slowly turns into a kind of madness over the course of the film that is hilarious, terrifying, and relatable.

Birthright is not an easy watch, but it is an affecting and hilarious one. There are several scenes that may rank among the most memorable of the year – one, in particular, includes the whole family standing for a group photo waiting for the cameras timer to go off, and never has so much been said by four people standing motionless and silent– and the repeated refrain of "pool parties all summer, with all of our friends" will ring different each time you hear it. Writer and director Zoe Pepper has created an excellent dark comedy that borders at times on being a straight up horror film, one that will certainly leave its mark.

Tribeca 2025 | Movie Review: "Birthright" Goes Horrifyingly Wrong In All The Right Ways