Film Review: Stella’s Last Weekend Is All About Real Family Chemistry

SYNOPSIS: Oliver (Alex Wolff) is a Queens high school senior who is madly in love with Violet, the girl of his dreams. Oliver’s older brother, Jack (Nat Wolff), is not so lucky with his love life, having made a real connection with a girl who suddenly dropped him without any explanation. When Jack comes home from college for a special celebration of Stella, the family’s beloved but aging dog, he soon discovers that the girl who broke his heart is the very same Violet who has stolen Oliver’s heart. A series of comic complications ensue as the romantic rivalry between the brothers escalates, Violet wavers between the two equally appealing siblings, and the entire family tries to get through the emotional upheaval of Stella’s impending “last hurrah.”

Stella’s Last Weekend lives and breathes according to the dynamic of real life brothers: Alex and Nat Wolff. Their natural chemistry simultaneously grounds and glows a film that is simple in premise: two brothers fall for the same young woman. Yet, director and writer Polly Draper, has created a colorful, sincere look at the complexity of this situation.

So many difficult instances can be described in one sentence such as, I got in a car accident or I broke up with my boyfriend. Yet, reading those lines opens up a Pandora’s Box of emotions and understanding that a simple phrase/ situation is never simply absorbed. Nat and Alex Wolff play this truth perfectly using brotherly banter to build an inevitable altercation; Jack and Oliver need to face their jealousy over Violet (Paulina Singer). The young ballerina is truly a charm, and enraptures the boys whose personality is balance beam between self-absorbed, raucous guys and occasionally wise charms. In essence, they are playing teen/ young twenty-something males to a T; balancing their ability to be annoying and altruistic, all at once, as seen by their love for their dying dog Stella.

I can’t reiterate enough how much Alex and Nat Wolff carry this film. Their banter is electric because it feels so natural and real. I would not be surprised if there is hours of footage of them simply riffing lines off each other. Hence, you note when the banter turns dark, when their looks to each other become grimmer, and, suddenly, these siblings that appear and act, practically, identical become strangers to each other. Yet, this twist feels right and astute on Draper’s creative end. When you fall in love, you realized the best and worst of yourself, which is not an easy realization when you are young. You begin to feel emotions that you are learning to handle for the first time like, avidly wanting to impress someone and spend all the time you can with them. It is for this reason that Jack and Oliver’s relationship begins to show cracks; they have both fallen for a woman that makes them want to put themselves together.

Love can be the most motivating factor for you to be present, growing, and open to sharing yourself. This truth is exemplified by Polly Draper’s Sally, who looks at her boys like they are two stars on legs, which, technically, they are in real life. Yet, her sheer admiration for their wit and faith that any mistake they make will be amended because of it, furthers the entire film’s undercurrent of honest chemistry. In being real-life brothers, playing the sons of their real-life mom, Stella’s Last Weekend truly becomes a subtle, instant portrait on family dynamics; relying on how much you feel these people love each other to elevate the film.

Stella’s Last Weekend is one of the films that bursts with casual “flavor” because you feel like you can, literally, taste these characters. They are so raw and approachable that, whether your like them or not, you become invested in them because of their realness. From Sally’s growing relationship with the meek Ron (Nick Sandow) to Violet’s ultimate, love decision upon the brothers, your eyes watch as mother, sons, and their dog go through grief, self-discovery, and the unbreakable union that is family seeing you through both. Stella’s Last Weekend Comes Out In Theaters October 12 And On Digital October 23.