getting to that age.

Project Type: Narrative Short
Project Status: Post-Production
Director and Writer: Tristen Tarp
Producer: Frances Komoda
Cast: Romy Reiner, Matt Walsh, Sharon Lawrence, Carter Jenkins

LOGLINE

Dakota, an anxiety-ridden only child, returns home at Christmas to proudly announce her engagement, only to be slapped in the face with news of her parent's divorce at the dinner table, shattering her perspective on love and loyalty. LADY BIRD meets THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND by way of THE BEAR.

SYNOPSIS

When 28-year-old Dakota returns home for the holidays with her new fiancé, she hopes to celebrate and finally share their engagement. Instead, she walks into a pressure cooker of resentment, silence, and soggy potatoes. Her mother is cracking under the weight of years of emotional labor, her father is checked out & angry, and her fiancé is more devoted to his work phone than the people around the table.

Over the course of one night, old patterns return with a vengeance and Dakota finds herself juggling the impossible roles of daughter, partner, and peacemaker, all while quietly wondering if the life she’s building is any healthier than the one she’s trying to escape. Set entirely in one suburban home on Christmas Eve, Getting to That Age captures the moment you realize you’re no longer the child in the room, but the adult wondering if your parents ever truly were.

A sharp, darkly funny, and emotionally honest portrait of family dysfunction, this is a story about growing up, letting go, and the quiet heartbreak of coming home.