‘When You Finish Saving the World’ — Narcissists At a Crossroads

In Jessie Eisenberg's directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, nearly everyone's a narcissist. Anyone who isn’t (there are a few) has a hard time being around those people. In the Katz family (our protagonists), the narcissist hierarchy goes like this: son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard), mom Evelyn (Julianne Moore), and dad Roger (Jay O. Sanders). They’re so emotionally removed from each other — living in their own impenetrable worlds — that they don’t even see how dysfunctional their family is.

Ziggy is obsessed with performing, singing folk-rock songs to the 20 000 (!) followers he gained on social media. Evelyn buries himself in work as the head of the shelter she runs for abused women. Roger, the least self-centered of the three, mostly reads and makes sure there’s a hot meal to eat at the end of each day. The movie’s core (and what Eisenberg is most fascinated by) is the mother-son relationship between two people who lost connection with each other a long time ago.

Ziggy and Evelyn are oblivious to how insufferable and pompous they are. Early on, there’s a dinner scene when Ziggy casually tells his father to “shut the fuck up.” You expect some parental rebuke, but there’s none. This is normal (liberal) parenting in their home. The following morning Ziggy asks his mom if she could give him a ride to school. She says yes, only if he's ready to go right now. Five seconds, he replies. Evelyn literally counts those seconds and leaves his son home. You expect a teenage outburst, but there's none. Despite their desperate longing to connect, the two treat everyone who doesn’t conform to their way of living like shit.

At school, Ziggy has a crush on a girl called Lila (Alisha Boe), who’s smart, woke, and hard to reach. He wants to make an impression but doesn’t know how. Intellectually, they aren’t on the same level. So he keeps crashing into Lila’s conversations with her friends (at recess) to get her attention. But he's too socially inept to notice that she pities him for being ignorant. He can’t read her dismissal and doesn’t get why she’s not interested in him. It’s painful to watch how Ziggy embarrasses himself over and over again as he refuses to give up and move on.

Evelyn is similarly oblivious to her surroundings at work. The co-workers doesn’t like her, but they’re polite and respectful because she's the boss. She's intelligent enough to ignore what others might think of her and doesn't want (or need) their approval. But when a new domestic abuse victim arrives at the shelter with her son Kyle (Billy Bryk), she’s reminded of the rapport she no longer has.

Kyle is bright, ambitious, and charmingly kind to her mother. She claims, he's her savior. When Evelyn sees that warmth — that unconditional affection — she wants it all for herself. She begins "grooming" the teen to establish a bond. She gives him gifts, offers help to get him into a reputable college, and takes him out for dinner. Kyle’s grateful but not stupid — he plays along to keep her mother (and himself) safe, far from the abusive man they ran away from. Evelyn mistakes his behavior for something that's not.

Eisenberg understands narcissists (after all, he earned an Oscar nomination for portraying one) and how their minds work. Ziggy and Evelyn push themselves on others, hoping to win them over with force. They only hear what they want to hear and dismiss any sign of rejection. Ziggy fails to understand that Lila doesn't want him to be political and opinionated like her to gain her validation. Evelyn refuses to accept that Kyle won't comply and change his career path because she's nice and helpful to him. Eventually, they both have to face reality and get hurt in order to stop looking for empathy and connection in places where they won’t find any.

Wolfhard and Moore revel in their roles because they don’t try to be likable and sympathetic. Their characters are annoying, egocentric, and self-serving, but also hopelessly want to be viewed as nice people for their good intentions. That’s not how it works. You don’t get points for helping others if you have an agenda exclusively for your own good. Until the final act, Eisenberg’s screenplay is utterly clear about this and never contradicts itself to sneakily earn the viewer's sympathy.

Wolfhard (likely the only Stranger Things kid, besides Millie Bobby Brown, who won't get lost in cheesy rom-coms and fake teen flicks once the show ends) manages to bring a boyish naivete to his role. A quality that absolves his character from being a completely obnoxious douchebag. And Moore, as Evelyn, showcases enough emotion with her telling eyes and sad smile to expose the heartbroken mother who just wants to be as close to her only son as she was when he was little.

Although this sentimental revelation comes quite late in the script — and doesn’t feel entirely earned — it nudges the film toward a hopeful ending. One that feels moving after all the bitterness we witnessed watching these narcissists struggle with their own loneliness and inadequacy. When You Finish Saving the World isn’t necessarily as inventive, awkwardly funny, and sharp as it aspires to be (especially in the line of similar A24 movies), but it offers a thought-provoking story and a solid debut from Eisenberg as a filmmaker.

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This week, I also reviewed Apple TV+’s charmingly heartfelt latest comedy series ‘Shrinking’ (which you can stream here) for Paste Magazine. In February, I’ll be coming with more reviews of new shows.

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