Sometimes the best movie set-ups are the simplest ones. Other times, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Case in point: Joe Swanberg‘s excellent Alaska-set romance “The Sun Never Sets,” which begins with a series of entangled relationships that a soap opera showrunner would need a minute to work through.
Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is blissfully happy in an age-gap relationship with an older hedge fund manager Jack (Jake Johnson), who has two children from a previous marriage. She’s become something of a stepmom to the kids and sees herself as part of the family (she even hangs with his ex-wife!), even though Jack is uninterested in having more children, something that she previously wanted. In order to prevent her from having regrets later in life, Jack insists that they take a break so that Wendy can look for a partner whose life goals align better with hers. If she doesn’t find one before the permanently dark Alaskan winter begins, they can pick up where they left off with more peace of mind.
What Jack doesn’t bet on is the re-emergence of Wendy’s toxic ex-boyfriend Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), a small-time pilot who isn’t made any less attractive for the fact that his life is in shambles. Jack, who would have never agreed to such an arrangement if he knew Chuck was back in the picture, instantly changes his stance and decides he’s ready for marriage and more kids with Wendy, though she’s too far along in her new situationship to completely give it up. The only way he can cope is by starting to date a more age-appropriate woman (Karley Sciortino), who is seemingly perfect for him. But he can’t fully commit to her until Wendy makes up her mind, but Wendy can’t commit to either guy while she knows that another woman is in the picture, Chuck realizes that his desire for monogamy is incompatible with his unstable financial state, and everyone is miserable because nobody knows what they want.
It’s admittedly a lot to process at first, but the journey is worth it. “The Sun Never Sets” is a masterful portrait of humanity’s inability to figure out what we actually want at any given time. All of the relationships at its core are unapologetically adult, with each character eventually forced to find their own approach to the time-honored challenge of balancing passion and and pragmatism. While it initially seems like a retread of the old “stable husband material vs. exciting bad boy” trope that we’ve seen a million times over, each relationship is filled with enough nuances to merit its own film. Every character is old enough to understand, at least on some level, that dating has as much to do with figuring out what you want the rest of your life to look like as it does figuring out who you find attractive. Rather than treat it as a bad thing, the film uses that reality as a starting point to forge dating dynamics that are far more interesting than what we usually get to see.
Johnson plays the perfect Good Guy, projecting enough softness and neuroses to make it believable that he would come up with a convoluted plan to inadvertently push his loving girlfriend back into the arms of her ex while also demonstrating enough game to explain why multiple women are so into him. And Smith understands the “toxic ex” assignment perfectly, even if the subtleties of his performance make it clear that Chuck is quickly losing interest in being the Bad Boy and would love to be seen in the same light as Jack.
But the real star is Fanning, who embodies a character that might otherwise come across as an annoying flip-flopper with so much intelligence and charisma that we have no choice but to empathize with her. Wendy never has any clear idea of what she wants until the very end — theoretically ignoring a cardinal rule of storytelling — but Swanberg never blames it on her. Instead, the villain is the ridiculously complicated modern world we all have to navigate. If it takes these people so much anguish to figure out where they want to end up, what hope could there possibly be for the rest of us?
Fortunately, Swanberg’s millennial gaze never quite gives in to Gen Z cynicism, and the film sticks a satisfying landing that cements it as one of the mumblecore pioneer’s finest films. The larger budget and Alaskan scenery allow him to elevate his visuals, and the script is tighter and more mature than some of his more meandering fare. But many of the auteur’s familiar touches are still there — the IPA-fueled bar conversations that have been a fixture of his work are strangely comforting in an era where everybody is drinking less and feeling more alone.
“The Sun Never Sets” will satisfy any of Swanberg’s longtime fans who continue to see his movies at SXSW after SXSW, but it could also win over quite a few of his detractors. Just like his characters, the filmmaker is clearly growing, and we’re all the better for it.
Grade: A-
“The Sun Never Sets” premiered at SXSW 2026. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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