American Meltdown critiques Millennial struggles in the gig economy but relies too heavily on irony for a deeper meaning.
Writer & Director: Andrew Adams
Genre: Crime, Comedy
Run Time: 82′
U.S. Release: November 8, 2024
U.K. Release: TBA
Where to Watch American Meltdown: Prime Video (rent or purchase)
Each generation has their own trauma that forced them into adulthood on the back foot. The Lost Generation fought in the trenches of WWI and lost their savings in the Great Depression, the Greatest Generation had WWII, the Silent Generation enjoyed postwar plenty but the younger ones served in Vietnam alongside Baby Boomers, Gen X was raised in Reagan’s American, and Millennials started their careers during the worst market decline since the Great Depression.
Films like The Big Short and its offshoots capitalized on the nihilistic spirit of the Great Recession through telling the literal story with some ironic humor. Andrew Adams’ American Meltdown does the same on the micro-level, following a millennial unable to afford a mortgage or secure long-term employment.
The first thing that establishes American Meltdown as a capital ”M” Millennial story is the thick layer of irony used to make literal the struggles of an under-employed thirty-year-old. The film begins at a job review/interrogation, where Olivia (Jacki Von Preysing, in her debut feature) is asked to convert her full-time interior decoration job with an absurd gig job contract that only lasts 90 days at a time, without benefits. When Olivia asks her boss how she would be able to pay rent every month, her boss responds with “blame the unions” and a straight-faced shrug. This comedic jab is supposed to land on the gig economy established by tech companies for Millennials after the Great Recession. However, Adams uses this tone throughout the entire film, which feels too little too late in 2024.
The inciting incident of American Meltdown is the mysterious ransacking of Olivia’s big Socal house, where she lives alone. The cop (Shaun Boylan) and property manager (Clayton Farris) who respond to the robbery have a conflict of interest as fundraiser buddies. Among many other direct representations, Adams is showing how the twin enemies are the State and the Corporation and not the person who broke into her house. Olivia is shaken up by the break-in, which creates a heightened state of panic in her already highly anxious life of near-poverty.
Enter Mari (Nicolette Sweeney), who, aside from having enough raspy vocal fry to battle Miley Cyrus, introduces Olivia to the life of petty crime against the rich. Whereas Olivia is constricted and stuck in her life, Mari is free and easy, preferring to run away at the sight of any conflict. Olivia needs this boost not for the stolen cash or the escapism, but for the headstrong ability to take on the system through unconventional means that some people might describe as “illegal” and “fraudulent.” Yet Olivia’s argument would be, “what choice was I given?.” Olivia invites Mari to live with her as a sit-in home protection system, which becomes more than she asked for as the pair go on more risky theft adventures.
The jazz-funky soundtrack, along with Mari’s introduction, promises a story like Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket, which is about an unemployed man who befriends a thief to get money. American Meltdown uses this premise as a launching pad, rather than the main plot driver, for Olivia coming to grips with bills and shifty authority figures.
A new framing device is introduced fifteen minutes into the slick 82-minute film, where Olivia, in the future, is being interrogated by the police about her relationship with Mari. This interrogation comes back up every ten minutes, as more events in the past are revealed, which complicates the narrative direction and how we’re supposed to interpret the past. In many ways, this plot framing device is similar to what Christopher Nolan used in his micro-budget feature Following.
In this thriller, past plot points change the meaning of the film after each question of a police interrogation that takes place in the future, which establishes forward momentum, creates character motivation that shifts over time, and makes for a more compelling watch. Adams, as writer, director, producer, financier, location scout and manager, AD, art department, and costume designer for American Meltdown, chooses the comedy genre for the pickpocket flashback tropes instead of drama or thriller. The plot tension and character stakes don’t develop because the content is focused more on jokes than motivations.
In short, American Meltdown has a problem with ironic distance, meaning the gap between a character’s perspective and how the audience perceives them, in both form and content. It plays with comedic genre elements while being about a down on her luck Millennial in the gig economy. She knows her poor situation, constantly comments on it, and leaves the audience without any room to think on their own. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well in crafting a compelling whole. It feels like the early draft of an indie screenplay written by an improv comedian that doesn’t get past development executive assistants. Adams achieved a highly professional looking film with a limited budget and decent acting, but the problem is at the script level. A more powerful character study that didn’t stumble from one ironic joke to another would have elevated the content and eased the form.
Adams has promise and skill and I’m interested in seeing what he approaches next. But I’m hoping he won’t need to awkwardly disguise itself behind the facade of a 2014 hipster mumblecore comedy.
American Meltdown will be available to rent and own on Prime Video from November 8, 2024.
