Their Town review: Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass create a glorious hangout movie for theater kids

Theater kids can get a bad wrap for being too much and generally annoying. But speaking as a theater kid, a lot of that energy comes from an urgent desire to be known — not just seen but truly known. 

Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton understand that yearning and channel that earnestness and openness into the teen drama Their Town. Pulling inspiration from Richard Linklater's Before trilogy, Duplass scripts a deceptively simple story about two high schoolers who connect one long night after play rehearsal. Aselton directs, weaving the story across a small Maine town, turning everyday locations into sacred spaces of sharing. And in the lead roles, this husband-and-wife team chose one established young actor, IT's Chosen Jacobs, and one newcomer, their daughter, Ora Duplass.