Next of Kin (1984, Canada)

Interesting how much things have changed. The economy must have been really good back then because it was about the shame of being 23-years-old and still living with your parents.

Peter's parents have an indoor pool. Who can blame him for staying? He doesn't work and doesn't want to. He tells us in voiceover that he copes with loneliness by becoming two people, the person he really is and the other a person he pretends to be.

Peter and his parents go into therapy. He learns about another family, an older Armenian couple who've alienated their adult daughter. They had given a son up for adoption years earlier. Peter goes away on vacation by himself. The therapist thinks this would be good for him. He calls the Armenian family and tells them he's the son they gave up. 

That's another thing that's changed. DNA testing.

The Armenian family isn't especially warm. The father tried to strangle the therapist during a roleplaying session, but his volatility doesn't play much role in the story. They were more intense than Peter's Canadian WASP parents, but that novelty would wear off.

I can't see how Peter moving in with them was an improvement for anyone.

Written and directed by Atom Egoyan.

Available on the Criterion Channel.