There is a Nietzsche quote about the lack of friendship, not a lack of love, that renders a marriage unhappy. Matias and Juulia, the middle-aged, married Finns at the centre of Selma Vilhunen’s Four Little Adults seem to possess both love and friendship in abundance. And yet, their marriage is unhappy enough for Matias to seek a connection elsewhere. It is the fascinating contradiction that kick-starts a complex and compelling examination of human relationships.
Matias (Eero Milonoff) is a man of the cloth and his wife (Alma Pöysti) has a burgeoning political career that sees her emails pinging at all hours. Matias preaches about love and fidelity but has actually been seeing Enni (Oona Airola) for just over a year. His perfectly middle-class domestic set-up is on the brink of coming crashing down around him when Juulia discovers his affair. However, her decision that they can all continue to live and love in a polyamorous relationship sets new boundaries for their seemingly conventional marriage.
Selma Vilhunen’s film has all the weight of a Shakespearian play and the light touch of a modern rom-com. But this is less comedy of errors and more “trial and error” for Matias and Juulia. Even Juulia’s polite proposal of polyamory is offered with a hardback guide, complete with highlighted passages. Their life, prior to secrets being spilled, had all the hallmarks of suburban comfort. Blouses are silk and sleek; wine glasses are crystal and heavy; blazers are tweed and fitted; family dinners are held around dark wood tables with cloth napkins. This veneer of respectability is subject to the ultimate bubble burst.
Four Little Adults really benefits from keeping things in tight close-ups. It allows us to see the entire gamut of human emotions laid bare. An angry retort is swallowed; jealousy manifests in a clenched jaw; sadness echoes in a trembling lip. You cannot help but want to wrap your arms around Juulia as her tired, tear-streaked eyes widen in horror as she comes across Enni’s social media accounts. This is neatly contrasted, later on, when Juulia sees Miska (Pietu Wikström) on stage. This time, her eyes widen with possibility as she meets their piercing gaze, framed with smoky black glitter.
It’s testament to the lead four actors as to how well they take us through the many different stages of navigating their new-found relationship status. Milonoff portrays a man who, initially, cannot believe his luck but is slowly coming to terms with the reality of balancing two relationships equally. He is a multilayered character, one that some viewers might love to hate. Oona Airola is striking in her depiction of desperation, loneliness and exhaustion. Alma Pöysti feels incredibly empathetic as Juulia. As viewers, we are initially presented with her being wronged and so her quest to discover laughter and pleasure again feels understandable. Pietu Wikström offers up a highly nuanced portrayal of identity and self when it comes to loving and being loved.
Choice is also a recurrent theme that Vilhunen does not allow any of her leads to escape from. They choose to cheat; choose to be polyamorous; choose to be happy; choose to keep secrets; choose to pursue a career; choose to reject convention; choose to build entirely new family units. This notion that we are only ever one decision away from a completely different set of circumstances seems to pervade every aspect of the film. It makes every conversation carry a weight that can feel either dangerously exciting or potentially suffocating.
The film’s title also, perhaps, alludes to the fact that these characters often cope with their decidedly adult decisions by throwing toddler-like temper tantrums. Tears, hiding under duvets, sitting down in the middle of the pavement and refusing to budge … it’s as if they’ve run out of emotional intelligence at certain points.
Four Little Adults isn’t designed to titivate. Nor is it there to condemn or condone; Vilhunen is simply there to observe the complexities of these relationships as they unfold. It is a thoroughly interesting watch bolstered by fantastic performances and a very objective presentation of polyamorous relationships. As viewers, we are not asked to pick sides or make judgements. We, too, are there to be wrapped up in the drama and to empathise with the range of human emotions on display.
Four Little Adults is released on the 7th June in selected cinemas – you can see which cinemas this will be screening at by following this link at Modern Films. We will update you with any further releases on Digital on Demand.
