Jesse Eisenberg has been on a roll after his celebrated performance in Fleishman Is In Trouble, and now his directorial debut (which he also wrote) is heading into theaters accompanied by that spiffy A24 logo.
When You Finish Saving The World stars Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard as Ziggy, a misunderstood teen who just wants to share his classic folk-rock music with the world, much to the dismay of his tightly-wound mother, portrayed by Julianne Moore. As per the official description:
Evelyn and her oblivious son Ziggy seek out replacements for each other as Evelyn desperately tries to parent an unassuming teenager at her shelter, while Ziggy fumbles through his pursuit of a brilliant young woman at school.
Eisenberg’s project first debuted as an Audible Original drama with Eisenberg lending his voice. And even though he doesn’t star in the movie, his signature wit is definitely present.
In a recent interview with Collider, Eisenberg explained how he reworked the story as a feature-length film. “After I finished the Audible book, I decided to write a story from [the mother’s] perspective,” Eisenberg explained. “I also had written his perspective, and I thought it’d be such an interesting clash of cultures, of ideologies, of generations. He plays a guy who’s very popular online, playing his music to thousands of adoring fans, and his mother is a social justice activist who runs a shelter, and they have to live in the same house with each other. And there’s a clash of ideologies, cultures, generations, and values.” This movie may or may not be Lady Bird but for teenage boys, which is a good thing!
In addition to Eisenberg, the movie is produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary and stars Alisha Boe, Jay O. Sanders, and Eleonore Hendricks. When You Finish Saving The World hits theaters this Friday, January 20th. Check out the trailer above.