Writer and director Rob Grant sets This Too Shall Pass in the summer of 1989 and builds its spine around a road trip that leaves Syracuse for Ottawa. The story belongs to Simon, played by Maxwell Jenkins, a 16-year-old pressed by the strict rules of his Mormon household. A fight with his father triggers a fast decision. He takes cash and convinces four friends, Tim, Chris, John, and James, to join a run across the border.
The target is Shelly, whose casual talk of meeting in Canada turns into their objective. Grant frames everything as a confession. A battered Simon recounts events from the back of a police car to Officer Harris. The device gives the film a clear endpoint and shifts attention to the steps that lead there, a neat way to guide a coming-of-age comedy drama toward process and consequence.
Mechanics of a Misadventure
The opening stretch promises a lively chase. Simon’s theft and escape mark a sharp break from home life and function as a clean inciting event for a last summer blowout. The confession structure keeps a low hum of pressure. Each scene nudges us toward the moment that places Simon in custody.
Momentum fades once the boys reach Canada. Shelly turns them away. A mugger takes the money. That loss flips the film’s mode. The freewheeling caper gives way to scrounging and regrouping. A search for cash brings them to local teens, among them the plainspoken Misty, played by Katie Douglas.
From here the film changes rhythm. Fast movement yields to longer conversations. The second half settles into talk, hanging out, and reflection. The choice runs against habit for this type of story and tilts the focus toward character study.
Updating the Genre’s Core
Grant writes with clear knowledge of 1980s teen films and tips the hat to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The script engages with familiar beats and then reframes them. The grand gesture carries fallout. Running away comes with cost, and the story follows that cost.
Simon’s central struggle concerns identity under a demanding religious father. The Canadian teens hold up a mirror to the visitors and the film opens space for each friend. Tim’s closeted life and his emerging questions become a key thread.
James’s race brings a matter-of-fact awareness to the risks tied to their choices. Group conversations surface plain admissions and awkward truths, and the film favors that candor over nostalgia. The comedy grows from the mess they are in, while family tension and self-definition sit in the foreground.
Performance and Pacing
The young cast brings energy and feeling. Maxwell Jenkins plays Simon with raw edges, letting the push and pull inside the character carry scenes. Ben Cockell’s Tim adds weight to the group dynamic and makes the quieter turns land.
Grant directs with care for inner lives and keeps track of each arc. The main formal challenge lies in tone. The back half slows down and camps in extended sequences of talking and partying, and that shift may call for a reset of audience expectation.
The move suits the script’s curiosity about emotion and keeps plot mechanics from rushing past the characters. The soundtrack pulls from 1980s staples, including nods to Alphaville and The Cure, and gives period texture without sliding into kitsch. Moments of visual play pop up, though Grant stays measured in a space that often leans on excess.
The film is a Canadian-American coming-of-age comedy-drama set in the late 1980s. Titled This Too Shall Pass, it follows 16-year-old Simon, who, feeling stifled by his strict Mormon upbringing, rebels by crossing the border with his friends for a spontaneous weekend getaway in Canada. The adventure quickly evolves into a journey of self-discovery, with each friend confronting personal struggles amidst a backdrop of ’80s nostalgia and a great soundtrack. The film had an earliest domestic release date of October 24, 2025, distributed by Blue Fox Entertainment, with theatrical and digital releases planned.
Credits
Title: This Too Shall Pass
Distributor: Blue Fox Entertainment
Release date: October 24, 2025
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes (105 minutes)
Director: Rob Grant
Writers: Rob Grant, Michael Simon Baker
Producers and Executive Producers: David Hiatt, Michael Peterson (Producers), Michael Simon Baker, Jason R. Ellis, Jeremy Ray Taylor (Executive Producers)
Cast: Maxwell Jenkins, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Ben Cockell, Jaylin Webb, Aidan Laprete, Katie Douglas, Chris Sandiford, Nikki Roumel, Joanne Kelly, Robert Longstreet, Mark McKinney, Michael Ironside, Munro Chambers, Jerod Blake, Jacqueline Breakwell
Director of Photography (Cinematographer): David Baron
Editors: Rob Grant
Composer: Terry Benn, Michelle Osis
The Review
This Too Shall Pass
Grant's film smartly uses the police-car frame and road-trip structure to examine adolescent anguish and the failure of grand gestures. This narrative device keeps the audience engaged while allowing for a deep dive into personal conflicts, especially Simon's rebellion and Tim's self-discovery. While the deliberate slow-down in the second half challenges the initial momentum, the film’s emotional honesty and contemporary perspective elevate the familiar material. It succeeds as a purposeful reflection on the teen experience and its unavoidable consequences.
PROS
- The dual narrative device (present-day confession in the police car) creates immediate tension and depth.
- Thoughtfully references 1980s teen films while providing a realistic corrective focused on consequence.
- Gives substance to supporting roles and explores challenging themes like closeted identity and religious oppression.
- Maxwell Jenkins delivers an emotionally compelling portrayal of Simon.
- Uses a great '80s soundtrack and avoids era kitsch.
CONS
- The film's momentum is noticeably reduced in the second half when the action halts for extended character dialogue.
- The transition from initial comedy to serious drama requires an adjustment in audience expectation.
