“Misfits” Finds Friendship and Family in the Ring
The Oxford definition of “misfit” is someone whose “behavior or attitude sets them apart from others in an uncomfortably conspicuous way.” The motley crew of friends at the heart of Kris McMenamin’s Misfits fits that definition to a T. They’re ragtag, punk kids who may not understand life and their place in the world, but they do understand each other. They don’t know how to make themselves work in the world of 9:00-to-5:00s, children, and adulthood, but what counts is that they’re trying.
The friendship at the center of Misfits goes way back. Josh (Sam Meola), Sandy (Ceecee Simone), Becca (Kat Reeve), Ryan (Christian Levens), Spencer (Jacob H Burke), and Lucas (Russell Levin) have been running around town together since they were teenagers. Josh and Sandy are happily married, but Josh is left alone with their two children (Skylar Brooke & Carlie Ann Kauffman) after she dies. Filled with grief and struggling to hold onto the family home, Josh turns to his longtime friends to help him get back to living life.
Courtesy of Gallows Grin
Part of the friends’ scheme to get Josh and his kids back on their feet is to enter Josh in a no-rules wrestling match. The underground wrestling scene has a lot in common with the world of indie filmmaking. There’s a DIY nature to both, one that perfectly mirrors the group of friends in Misfits. Indie films and wrestling are safe havens for people who don’t feel like they have a place in what’s considered “normal” society. But who wants to be normal anyway? The friends of Misfits certainly don’t, nor should they.
Above all else, and perhaps most importantly, Misfits is an ode to human connection and deep, platonic love. In spite of what we’re told, love isn’t only reserved for romance. It flows freely between friends and is as important to life as a romantic connection. Misfits is a celebration of the ties that bind us, the family that we choose, and how they can push us out of our comfort zone to be the best version of ourselves. Friends see us as we are and as we can be. That’s what makes these relationships so special.
Courtesy of Gallows Grin
It’s Meola as Josh who captures the attention of the audience. He’s a burly, muscular guy who comes across as fairly impenetrable. In the absence of Sandy, Josh has to find a way to let people in. Grief thrives when a person becomes isolated, which is exactly what Josh does. He closes himself off, leaves his kids to their own devices, and buries himself in his work. Meola handles these emotional arcs beautifully. His reaction to his daughter coming out as gay is charmingly macho, yet proudly supportive, the way only a really great dad could react. Coincidentally, it’s also how my own father reacted when both of his daughters came out.
Misfits is a shaggy little flick whose heart is far larger than the sleeve it’s worn on. A labor of love that’s proud of the little family it’s built on. This is the kind of film that reminds you of the misfits in your own life and makes you hug them a little tighter the next time you see them.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook. Check out Movies with My Dad, a podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies and I Think You’ll Hate This, a podcast hosted by two friends who rarely agree.
support your local film critic!
~
support your local film critic! ~
Beyond the Cinerama Dome is run by one perpetually tired film critic
and her anxious emotional support chihuahua named Frankie.
Your kind donation means Frankie doesn’t need to get a job…yet.