Boundaries (2018 film)


Boundaries is a 2018 road trip comedy-drama film written and directed by Shana Feste. It stars Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDougall, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Schaal, Christopher Lloyd, and Peter Fonda. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2018 and was released in the United States on June 22, 2018 by Sony Pictures Classics, and in Canada on July 6, 2018, by Mongrel Media. This was the final film featuring Peter Fonda to be released during his lifetime.

Synopsis

Laura, along with her teenaged son Henry, is forced to drive her pot-dealing father Jack from Seattle to her sister's house in Los Angeles after he is kicked out of a retirement home.

Cast

Production

Development

In April 2016, it was announced that Vera Farmiga and Christopher Plummer would portray lead roles in the drama film Boundaries, with Shana Feste directing from her own screenplay. Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Bailey Conway were reported to be producing under the American production company Automatik Entertainment, with Chris Ferguson and Kenneth Burke producing under the Canadian production company Oddfellows Entertainment. In May 2016, Lewis MacDougall, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Schaal, Peter Fonda, Christopher Lloyd, and Dolly Wells were also cast in the film.

Filming

began on May 2, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was completed on June 3, 2016.

Music

In February 2017, it was reported that Michael Penn would compose the film's score.

Release

In May 2016, Stage 6 Films acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film. Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States. Boundaries had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2018. It was released in the United States on June 22, 2018.

Peter Fonda controversy

On June 20, 2018, Sony Pictures Classics condemned comments Peter Fonda made about President Donald Trump's young son Barron on Twitter the previous day, but announced that they would not edit the film or change its release schedule, noting that Fonda "plays a very minor role."

Reception

Box office

Boundaries made $29,995 from five theaters in its opening weekend, for an average of $5,910 per venue. Deadline Hollywood called it a "moderate start" while LifeZette called the film a "flop" and in-part blamed Fonda's association.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 69 reviews, and an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Boundaries benefits from a stellar performance by the reliably excellent Christopher Plummer, but his work is overwhelmed by the mediocre movie that surrounds it." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".