Youth of Today: A Lesson in Bad Parenting

If you enjoy watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion, Youth of Today is right up your alley. If you are looking for a lighthearted romp, you are going to be miserable. It is a heavy, slightly suffocating look at a family running out of options because the mother, Lydia, just cannot stop spending.

Honestly, Lydia is exhausting. She treats her daughter like a piece of property to be traded on the open market just to clear her own ledger. It reminded me a bit of the suffocating social pressure you see in Josselyn's Wife, where everyone is acting for an audience that isn't even watching.

There is a scene in the second act where she is trying to dress her daughter for a party, and the way she fusses over the fabric is just gross. You can feel the desperation in the room. It’s not about love; it’s about survival, or at least her version of it.

The husband, played by Arnold Sjöstrand, just kind of drifts through the house looking like he is waiting for a bus that is never coming. He is so tired. I think he might have two lines in the entire middle section of the film. It is funny in a sad way.

The dialogue can be a bit stiff, sure. Some of the lines land like lead balloons. But there is a real sharpness to the way they fight over the dinner table. No one is shouting, but you can feel the tension vibrating in the silverware.

I found myself wondering if they ever actually liked each other before all the debt showed up. There is no warmth here. It makes me appreciate the slightly more hopeful tone of something like His Daughter Pays, even though both deal with the same greedy problems.

The cinematography is… fine? It is very static. A lot of shots of people sitting in chairs, looking away from each other. At one point, the camera lingers on a closed door for about ten seconds too long. I kept waiting for someone to walk out, but they never did. It was weirdly hypnotic.

• The house feels way too big for these people.
• The daughter’s expressions are the only reason to stay tuned.
• Vera Valdor carries the whole thing on her back.
• The ending feels like a shrug.

You probably won't want to watch this twice. But if you are in the mood for a bleak character study about a woman who refuses to look at reality, it hits the mark. Just do not expect any big dramatic payoffs. Sometimes the drama is just people failing to be decent to their own kids. 💸