See you when I see you review: Jay Duplass’ latest drama sabotaged by its leading man

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• How the movie came to be and who brings it to life
• Portrait of a family after suicide: scenes and emotional beats
  • Different ways to grieve
• Acting choices: where the film soars and where it stumbles
• Direction and cinematography: a handheld intimacy
• What holds the film together and what pulls it apart
• Festival response and release status
• Immediate help for readers in crisis

Jay Duplass returns with a quiet, aching drama that adapts comedian Adam Cayton-Holland’s memoir into a film about a family unmoored by a sister’s suicide. See You When I See You trades big laughs for fragile moments and intimate grief, and it asks whether memory can be a refuge or a trap.

How the movie came to be and who brings it to life

Duplass shot this film after last year’s dark comedy The Baltimorons. Cayton-Holland wrote the screenplay based on his own book, Tragedy Plus Time. The creative hand-off led to a cast of indie mainstays and established stars.

• Lead: Cooper Raiff as Aaron, a comedian trying to cope.
• Leah: Kaitlyn Dever plays the deceased sister whose absence drives the plot.
• Supporting: Lucy Boynton, David Duchovny, and Hope Davis round out the family.
• Director of photography: Jim Frohna, Duplass’s longtime collaborator.

Portrait of a family after suicide: scenes and emotional beats

The film opens in the immediate aftermath of loss. Family members clear out an apartment and sort belongings. Each character wears grief differently.

Different ways to grieve

• One sibling buries herself in chores and order.
• The father focuses on legalities and caretaking.
• The mother withdraws entirely and denies rituals like a funeral.
• A middle child, Aaron, rejects therapy and leans into chaos.

Flashbacks populate the movie. Ordinary conversations twist into moments of raw significance. The film uses surreal imagery—a black void intruding on a bar scene—to visualize how memory can collapse into horror.

Acting choices: where the film soars and where it stumbles

The ensemble delivers layered work. Duchovny and Davis communicate heartbreak with small gestures. Boynton stands out with a fierce, precise performance that balances anger and care.

• Lucy Boynton: Makes a potentially grating role feel humane and essential.
• Duchovny and Davis: Provide quiet, aching counterpoints in flashbacks and the present.
• Cooper Raiff: His broad, performative choices often read as unmoored.

Raiff’s portrayal of Aaron sometimes feels like an acting choice rather than an interior truth. That distance can keep viewers from fully inhabiting his despair.

Direction and cinematography: a handheld intimacy

Duplass leans into close, unstable framing. Frohna’s handheld camera creates a rocking, unsettled rhythm. This visual approach mirrors the characters’ emotional imbalance.

• Handheld shots add immediacy to family confrontations.
• Flashbacks are staged as battlegrounds of memory.
• Surreal inserts—like the void—externalize psychological pain.

These choices mostly work. They transform internal fear into cinematic space. When the lead performance syncs with the film’s tone, the effect is powerful.

What holds the film together and what pulls it apart

The screenplay finds honest rhythms in grief. Moments of tenderness and absurdity coexist, reflecting real-life coping. Yet an uneven central performance keeps the film from reaching its full emotional potential.

• Strengths: Thoughtful script, strong supporting cast, effective visuals.
• Weaknesses: Lead actor’s inconsistent tone and lack of growth.
• Emotional impact: The film is often moving despite flaws.

Festival response and release status

See You When I See You premiered at SXSW, where audiences reacted to its candid treatment of suicide and mourning. The film does not yet have a wide release date listed.

Immediate help for readers in crisis

If you are thinking about suicide or need urgent mental-health support, please reach out now.

• US: Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Chat at 988lifeline.org.
• Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860.
• The Trevor Project for LGBTQ youth: 866-488-7386.
• Crisis Text Line: text START to 741-741.
• NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET.
• For international resources, consult local suicide prevention services and crisis hotlines.