Hal & Harper

Hal and Harper and Dad chart the evolution of their family. Director Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth, 2022 Sundance Film Festival), also appearing as the eponymous Hal, presents two siblings who consider their codependence a feature, not a bug. As Harper, Lili Reinhart superbly mirrors Raiff’s sardonic yet wounded nature, while demonstrating an engaging solemnity all her own. Their intimacy is built on a lifetime of inside jokes and shared pains, portrayed via flashbacks where Raiff and Reinhart play the elementary school-aged versions of themselves. Raiff’s familial tone weaves the balance between children on the precipice of damage and adults mired in self-made messes. As their father, Mark Ruffalo brings a wry charm that belies a chasm of guilt, firmly at the root of all that Hal & Harper is trying to uncover.