Red and The Adam Project: two coming-of-age films

At first glance, Red by Domee Shi e The Adam Project by Shawn Levy seem like two profoundly different films. Uno is an animated film, produced by Pixar (available on Disney + March 11), and marks Domee Shi’s directorial debut; the other is a live action, released by Netflix from 11 March, and set between our present and the near future. In reality, however, these two films share themes and objectives, and both, albeit in different ways, are two coming-of-age films, which talk about growthOf maturation and – at least in the case of The Adam Project – of mourning.

There are two generations in comparison, that of children and that of parents; and if in Red Mei, the protagonist, becomes a red panda when she is prey to strong emotions, in The Adam Project the protagonist meets his adult version. In Red, the protagonist collides with her mother and rediscovers the importance of being herself; in The Adam Projectthe protagonist must learn to live with the death of his father.

Both of these films seem to be aimed at younger audience, yet – either because of the quotations, the references and the very structure of the story, with a well-defined journey of the hero – they speak to everyone, without any distinction. In Red the Chinese community of Toronto is also beautifully told, with its traditions, its rites and its identity; in The Adam Project Ryan Reynolds, who plays the adult version of the protagonist, represents the link between different genres and tones.

Both in Red that in The Adam Projectthe mothers of the protagonists have a fundamental role: but if that of Mei, dubbed in the original version by Sandra Ohis afraid of the future and of losing his daughter, that of Adam, played by Jennifer Garner, he must figure out how to help his son accept the disappearance of his father (Mark Ruffalo). The fantasy / sci-fi element is just an excuse to be able to talk about broader themes and topics: the red panda, in Red, is a great way to graphically represent the strongest and most extreme emotions, to summarize the transition from childhood to adulthood; the time travel of The Adam Projectinstead, it brings the generations together and allows the same person to live two moments of their life at the same time.

The real surprise of these two films is the weight of the younger characters: that they are not only naïve, that they don’t have to understand only how to find a balance between what they are and what they want to be; but they are pure the wisest and aware, and with their limited experience, they are able to show adults something specific: there is no point in despairing about the future, and there is no need to be afraid of changes; we must learn to face every problem and every challenge without compromising, without denying ourselves anything, and without fear of failure.

Growing up, after all, is normal, it is part of us, of who we are; and as you grow up, you discover new interests and make new friends. At the center of everything, it is true, remains there family (and on this The Adam Project is much more insistent) but the outside world and other people are not necessarily bad, quite the contrary. In Red, Mei is happy with what she has become. In The Adam Projectthe protagonist travels back in time to save himself.

These are two different films, as we have already said, and they have two particular styles and approaches: Red it’s more cartoonishwith obvious references to anime, e The Adam Project it is more classic, rooted in the pop culture from the 1980s. But they are, in the end, also sides of the same coin: two stories that try, each in their own way, to deepen the difficulties and uncertainties of childhood and that photograph quite clearly the challenges of puberty andadolescence.

To receive the other Vanity Fair cover (and much more) subscribe to Vanity Weekend: https://www.vanityfair.it/newsletter-subscribe