Hang with your buds in Sacramento

Two old friends, one introverted and nervous, the other dynamic and domineering, go on a trip together, confronting the deteriorating state of their relationship and the state of their respective lives as they creep toward middle age. No, it’s not A Real Pain, it’s Sacramento, Michael Angarano’s sophomore film as a director (he also co-writes alongside Chris Smith). It’s hard not to compare Sacramento to A Real Pain, with their similar setups of a neurotic guy and his charismatic but obnoxious friend reconnecting on a trip, but Sacramento sets its own tone and pace and finds its own groove in the “white guy mental health crisis road trip” genre. 

Angarano also stars in the film as Rickey, a gregarious bordering on pushy guy who dominates his group therapy session and bullies his childhood pal, Glenn (Michael Cera), into going on a road trip to Sacramento to scatter his dad’s ashes. Glenn is quietly melting down at home, destroying the crib he just built for his forthcoming child because it creaked when he shook it, and fretting about potentially losing his job. Glenn’s inhumanly patient wife, Rosie (Kristen Stewart), encourages Glenn to go on the trip, telling him she shouldn’t have to take care of him while she’s pregnant, and maybe the trip will help him clear his head. And so, Glenn and Rickey set off for Sacramento.

Sacramento is a slight film, propelled by Angarano and Cera’s chemistry, with assists from Stewart and Maya Erskine, who stars as Tallie, a woman with whom Rickey had a brief but momentous fling. It has a low-key charm, bolstered by a chill as f-ck soundtrack and Ben Mullen’s cinematography, which captures California’s roadways and Sacramento’s mid-size city aesthetic in buttery light. It’s a nice-looking film, and it never feels like Angarano is trying to prove anything as a filmmaker with overly elaborate setups or tortured camera moves. As a director, he’s good at capturing quiet moments and minor absurdities, and Sacramento bops along at a steady clip, with just the right amount of story for an 85-minute film.

As writers, he and Chris Smith are generous. The film is squarely centered on Glenn and Rickey, but Rosie and Tallie get showcase moments, too. Stewart captures a woman ready for parenthood though she knows her partner most definitely is not, and Erskine gets a spectacular monologue late in the film. Sacramento is built on these performances, and they’re all fantastic. It’s a quiet film and no one is belaboring their performance, but the easy flow of these performances only enhances the overall feeling that Sacramento is just, like, here for a good time.

Somehow, the film itself feels like “California”, that mythical place where everyone is relaxed, the sun always shines, and the ocean is “just over there”. Even though it is a film that touches on grief, growing up, drifting apart, and men’s mental health in a society that isn’t built to acknowledge their emotions, Sacramento never feels bothered by any of it. Angarano balances an appealing breeziness without undercutting the more serious themes of the film, culminating in a crisis that is taken seriously even as it’s laugh out loud funny. Michael Cera has always been a better actor than he is given credit for, and Angarano and Smith give him plenty to chew on here.

Sacramento is the kind of small-scale character-driven comedy-drama that almost feels nostalgic these days, we get so few of them. But the film itself is not nostalgic, if anything, it’s a genial but cautionary tale of clinging too hard to things you’ve outgrown or letting go too soon of things you still need. It’s hard to find the middle, and Angarano & Co. approach that balance with good humor and sweetness, as if to say the only way to achieve it is to laugh or cry as needed, without judgment. It’s a sweet, kind film, and while it might not make the biggest impression, Sacramento does at least make a good one. 

Sacramento will play exclusively in theaters from April 11, 2025.