In the movies as in real life, genuine chemistry can’t be faked — two people either have it or they don’t. Joshua Leonard and Jess Weixler fall into the former category, sharing a rapport that’s so natural and easygoing that it carries their winning “Fully Realized Humans” (a 2020 Tribeca Film Festival selection) through its occasional bumpy patches. As a married couple grappling with pre-parental fears as well as familial hang-ups, (following 2011’s “The Lie”), which with the right push may make inroads with indie audiences when it debuts on VOD on July 30.
With the birth of their first child only one month away, Jackie (Weixler) and Elliot (Leonard) find that Lamaze classes with their doula (Erica Chidi Cohen) aren’t quelling their growing anxieties — which are then exacerbated by a baby shower at which their friends talk about the nightmare of breastfeeding, the threat of sudden infant death...
With the birth of their first child only one month away, Jackie (Weixler) and Elliot (Leonard) find that Lamaze classes with their doula (Erica Chidi Cohen) aren’t quelling their growing anxieties — which are then exacerbated by a baby shower at which their friends talk about the nightmare of breastfeeding, the threat of sudden infant death...
- 7/27/2021
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
Talk about shooting under the gun. When long-time collaborators and friends Joshua Leonard and Jess Weixler teamed up to make their latest film together, “Fully Realized Humans,” there was one major concern to build their scrappy seven-day shoot around: Weixler was eight months pregnant at the time. Fortunately, the duo wrapped in time and Weixler welcomed her first child just a few weeks later.
Weixler’s pregnancy, of course, plays a major role in the duo’s latest feature, which follows the pair as a pair of well-meaning parents-to-be who suddenly realize they might not be totally ready to welcome a bouncing bundle of joy into their lives, at least not as they currently stand.
Intent on shaking off any of their own neuroses, the pair decide to spend the next month before their baby girl’s birth turning into “fully realized humans.” That involves everything from the mundane (can...
Weixler’s pregnancy, of course, plays a major role in the duo’s latest feature, which follows the pair as a pair of well-meaning parents-to-be who suddenly realize they might not be totally ready to welcome a bouncing bundle of joy into their lives, at least not as they currently stand.
Intent on shaking off any of their own neuroses, the pair decide to spend the next month before their baby girl’s birth turning into “fully realized humans.” That involves everything from the mundane (can...
- 6/7/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Channeling both his debut feature The Lie and Humpday, his mumblecore outing with director Lynn Shelton, Joshua Leonard’s Fully Realized Humans is an emotionally honest yet minor comedy about a couple aspiring to find themselves before bringing life into this world. Elliot (Leonard) and Jackie (Jess Weixler) are the kind of upper middle class white couple that would annoy the hell out of you in Target and Trader Joe’s, obsessing over the quality of infant car seats and hummus, while wondering what their consumption choices say about themselves as people.
They themselves are works in progress, turning to their doula (Erica Chidi Cohen) for advice in the film’s funny opening moments. Jackie and Elliot soak up the new age insight on childbirth and orgasms while in the room. In private, they take things to a toxic new level. A send-up of insecurity and narcissism, Fully Realized Humans...
They themselves are works in progress, turning to their doula (Erica Chidi Cohen) for advice in the film’s funny opening moments. Jackie and Elliot soak up the new age insight on childbirth and orgasms while in the room. In private, they take things to a toxic new level. A send-up of insecurity and narcissism, Fully Realized Humans...
- 4/28/2020
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Nearly a decade ago, microbudget stalwarts Joshua Leonard (“The Blair Witch Project”) and Jess Weixler (“Teeth”) collaborated on “The Lie,” a witty deconstruction of the demands of parenthood. Leonard directed the entirely improvised adaptation of T.C. Boyle short story, with Weixler and co-star and Mark Webber sharing writing credit. Now, Leonard and Weixler are back with “Fully Realized Humans,”
The pair clearly operate on the same wavelength, which helps keep their winsome pregnancy comedy afloat. As explained via an amusing animated introduction and zippy opening credits, Elliot (Leonard) and Jackie (Weixler) are about to become parents for the first time, and they’re only slightly freaked out about it. They’re doing all the prep work they should: lots of comparing key items, plenty of reading, and even employing a soothing doula (real-life birth expert Erica Chidi Cohen) who doesn’t roll her eyes at their sillier inclinations.
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The pair clearly operate on the same wavelength, which helps keep their winsome pregnancy comedy afloat. As explained via an amusing animated introduction and zippy opening credits, Elliot (Leonard) and Jackie (Weixler) are about to become parents for the first time, and they’re only slightly freaked out about it. They’re doing all the prep work they should: lots of comparing key items, plenty of reading, and even employing a soothing doula (real-life birth expert Erica Chidi Cohen) who doesn’t roll her eyes at their sillier inclinations.
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- 4/17/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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