Throwback, The (2023) (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Dec 12, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Mario GarciaRelease Date(s)
2023 (October 22, 2024)Studio(s)
Miantri Films/Movie House Stories/Myriad Pictures (Kino Lorber)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D
Review
Every now and then, a film comes along without fanfare, stars, or media hype, yet turns out to be surprisingly good. Such a film is The Throwback, a low-budget production about family, the challenges of parenthood, and adult obstacles to pursuing one’s youthful dreams.
Kate Morgan (Justina Machado, Endgame) is a hardworking wife and mother of two boys. In addition to holding down a full-time job, she’s in charge of feeding the family, chauffeuring and otherwise seeing to the kids, doing the laundry and all the other household chores so her husband, Matt (Will Sasso, Hit by Lightning), can be free to work on product campaigns for the ad agency where he works. Kate can never catch a moment for herself. She’s stressed and exhausted at day’s end and the couple’s sex life has suffered collateral damage.
One day, a robber enters the bank where Kate works and points a gun at her while she loads up the cash he demands. She’s shaken, but Matt succeeds in calming her down. The next morning, however, when Matt awakens Kate, she screams. She doesn’t recognize Matt or her surroundings and is totally confused and panicked. Somehow, her mind has regressed to when she was a 19-year-old college student. A psychiatrist reasons that she probably sought out a time in her life she was happier. She has erased the last 26 years of her memories and could remain in this state for several years.
Writer/Director Mario Garcia shuttles back and forth between two stories—the ramifications of Kate’s return to her youth, and Matt’s having to take on all of Kate’s household responsibilities while competing with a younger co-worker (Gregg Sulkin, Deported) to nail a lucrative client and impress the boss. Kate’s re-introduction to 2023 elicits amazed responses when she marvels at the size of a flat screen TV and wonders where the back of it went; is introduced not only to the smart phone but also to myriad apps; examines her middle-aged-lady wardrobe with dismay, and rekindles a long-dormant talent for fashion design. Garcia keeps the proceedings light, steering away from bitter criticism and leaning into human foibles and fish-out-of-water gags. These moments are played for laughs and most of them land as intended. But her mental regression has drawn Kate away from family and toward younger people. She’s a party girl again and begins ignoring Matt and their sons. Matt now has to be both Dad and Mom and tackle tasks he’s never before had to think about. The bank incident appears to be the moment when Kate snaps, but early scenes indicate she was heading in that direction already.
Justina Machado is the prime reason The Throwback works so well. She’s playing two roles: 45-year-old Kate and 19-year-old Kate, and she’s terrific in both. Physically, when her Kate is a harried working mother, she moves with waning energy and looks frazzled. But when Kate thinks she’s a college girl and acquires hot new clothes and a hairstyle to match, Machado carries them with aplomb and moves with freedom, grace and vitality.
Will Sasso, a big bear of a man who emanates warmth and charisma, is exactly right for the role of Matt, kindhearted and loving but overly distracted by a job that no longer gives him satisfaction. Sasso’s Matt is patient, soft-spoken, and rarely shouts. He’s the voice of reason, yet never comes off as annoyingly prim. Matt shows Kate photo albums of events in their lives, with pictures of the kids at various ages, and snuggles her so she knows that she’s loved. The role could have devolved into cartoon caricature, but Sasso keeps Matt real and relatable, and his chemistry with Machado’s Kate makes for an interesting developing relationship between husband and wife.
Some aspects of the picture seem awkward. As Matt’s work colleague Charles, Bobby Lee (Pineapple Express) seems a joke machine rather than an actual character and looks as if he wandered in from another film. In some scenes, he seems present only to offer quips to add wit to routine dialogue. In addition, there are convenient plot developments that can only occur in a movie, but The Throwback is a modern-day fairy tale, so such departures from logic and reality are easily overlooked.
The Throwback was captured digitally by director of photography Niav County and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.00:1. Contrast and clarity are very good on the Blu-ray. Justina Machado’s make-up, hair styles and fashions are significant in differentiating her two Kates. Complexions are well rendered and the film’s color palette is wide, ranging from bold primary hues in 19-year-old Kate’s dresses, a backyard pool party, and an elegant restaurant dinner, to more muted tones in middle-aged Kate’s home attire, outdoor Christmas Fest booths, and dimly-lit community meetings that Matt attends in Kate’s absence.
Two soundtrack options are offered: English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitle options are English SDH and French. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Kate’s manner of speaking as her 19-year-old self is quicker, more enthusiastic, and sunnier than her speech as 2023 Kate. Sound effects include a Mustang’s engine, ambient noise at a beer party, loud video game mayhem emanating from the Morgan’s TV, and sounds of breathing exercises led by Matt’s direct superior.
The only bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber include the following:
- Trailer (2:21)
- The Boy in the Woods Trailer (2:32)
The Throwback is a fine opportunity to see Justina Machado in a starring role. Inhabiting the character of Kate, she elicits empathy, gets laughs when appropriate, and adopts distinct acting styles to differentiate adult Kate from college-days Kate. “Family film” often has a negative connotation to some, but this film works as both a family picture and a thoughtful look at the importance of striving for what will make an individual his or her best self.
- Dennis Seuling