Peas And Carrots Review: Stilted & Awkward High School Fantasy Is A Confounding Mess

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The story begins like a typical teen movie, but quickly becomes very strange. Imagine a David Lynch film remade as a brightly colored, kid-friendly show – that’s close to what this is. It follows a shy teenager, the child of former musicians, who finds himself in a bizarre alternate world. This world is essentially the set of a sitcom where everyone only repeats the same meaningless phrase.

Evan Oppenheimer’s film has intriguing elements, and at times, its vibrant purple visuals feel reminiscent of the show I Saw the TV Glow, hinting at a story about finding oneself. However, these moments are fleeting. The 90-minute movie ultimately feels slow and is hampered by awkward performances, uneven pacing, and a confusing story with two separate plots that barely connect.

The movie’s plot isn’t the only thing that feels odd. While Kirrilee Berger portrays Joey with a believable performance, she doesn’t look convincingly like a teenager, and Talia Oppenheimer doesn’t seem anywhere near 13 years old either. The unusual casting choices throughout the film create a strange effect – it feels like adults are pretending to be kids, but without any sense of irony or playful awareness.

Joey’s parents used to be in a popular band called City Kids, scoring a hit song in 1996, but they haven’t achieved much since. Now, her dad, Gordon, teaches instead of making music, and her mom, Laurie, tries to recapture her artistic spark by doing online interviews that often focus on her age. Joey dislikes seeing her parents stuck in the past, so she proposes they form a new band, inspired by groups like The Partridge Family, to reignite their passion for music.

At night, Joey accidentally switches on a broken night light that casts a purple glow. Stepping through the light, she unexpectedly finds herself on a remarkably dull movie set. Time flows strangely in both places, leaving Joey disoriented and unsure of where she is. Unfortunately, the actress playing opposite her, Berger, is quite bland, making it hard to convincingly portray a situation where someone is constantly lost.

The people she works with on set are mean and unpleasant. It’s unclear what project she’s filming, but she begins as a background performer and surprisingly gets more and more speaking parts until she’s essentially the main character. Afterwards, she doesn’t remember how much time has passed.

The film’s title comes from a filmmaking trick where extras say the word “rhubarb” to simulate realistic conversation. The movie seems to be challenging the main character, Joey, to figure out who she wants to be – someone who shines, or someone who blends in. While the film touches on the value of teamwork, it surprisingly suggests that it’s better to stay out of the spotlight, which is unusual for a story about growing up and finding your place.

The link between these two realities feels weak, and the different parts of the filmmaking process don’t work together well enough to convey a clear purpose. The most promising storyline involves Laurie and Gordon trying to balance their artistic passions with the demands of everyday life, but it’s quickly abandoned. Instead, the film gets lost in a confusing and absurd question: is this alternate universe actually happening, or is it all just a dream?

To put it simply, “Peas and Carrots” isn’t very well made in almost any way. Its message about finding your place in the world is lost in a confusing and complicated plot. The title phrase, “peas and carrots,” seems fitting because the movie itself doesn’t make much sense from beginning to end.

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2025-11-10 00:18