‘Sacramento’ Review – A Languid Journey Into Our Best And Worst Selves

Life can feel intensely lonely. Whether we have a mental health diagnosis or note, it can seem like no one has felt what we are going through. This is partially true and partially false. Yes, other people have anxiety/depression/fill in the blank here, but no one has our particular history, triggers, and focus. In this sense, the experience of life is both individual and communal. The sick joke is that we need people. We need to turn to our friends, our spouses, our family, to find a way through. We cannot simply dive into one passion, because eventually, they all fade, no matter how powerful they seem at the time.

Sacramento follows two men who both are having major issues. Glenn (Michael Cera) should be in a good place. He has a loving wife, Rosie (Kristen Stewart), who understands him better than he does himself. She is also pregnant with their first child, and eerily calm about it. But the film makes it clear that he is certainly not handling things well. The opening scene features him struggling with the building of a crib, which ends with him tearing it apart with his bare hands. With Cera continuing his usual schtick, this moment originally plays as purely comedic, but as the context becomes more complex, it changes into a more powerful emotional process.

Speaking of emotional processes, Rickey (Michael Angarano) is having a really difficult time dealing with his father’s death. So much so that he is dominating group therapy in a way that is a distraction technique so he will not have to admit his own feelings. Rickey has essentially weaponized therapy-speak as a shield. Angarano is charming, in a grimy sort of way. We can immediately understand how he has gotten away with this behavior. Finally called out on his behavior, he is desperate for connection so he calls on Glenn, with whom he used to be close. 

Their journey to the titular Sacramento never breaks much new ground on the road comedy, but is highlighted by solid performances by both Cera and Angarano. There is a scene involving the supposed ashes of Rickey’s father that is the film’s sole laugh-out-loud moment. Angarano, who also directed and co-wrote the film, plays off Cera perfectly in this extended moment, and it lifts the movie out of the emotional doldrums of grief and anxiety. As is typical in a road comedy, they get into a series of misadventures that have their share of hits and misses. But seeing Cera and Angarano live their WWE fantasies in slow motion just might be worth the price of admission. 

But Sacramento sadly only really hits home near the end of the film, when Tallie (Maya Erskine) is re-introduced. The movie opens with their initial meeting, and the giant gap allows us to see the consequences of Rickey’s struggles and arrested development. Erskine’s genuine, harried, powerful performance should be studied. In just one interaction, she absolutely takes over the film. The immediate connection she manages is both a positive and a negative. Although it helps us root for Rickey and for a happy ending generally, it also leaves us wondering why we have not been following her (much more interesting) story from the very beginning. 

Sacramento is a mostly forgettable journey, but it manages to tie its loose ends together enough to be a positive experience overall. The film does manage to show the importance of honesty, emotional genuineness, and coming clean about everything that we are afraid to talk about. It is unfortunate that the balance seems just slightly off. The movie has all of the pieces to be more memorable, but focuses too much on the boys trip, and not enough on the actual consequences in their lives. A much more interesting film could be made exploring either before or after the events of the movie unfold in front of us. And yet, luckily, Angarano’s film is filled to the brim with heart and mostly succeeds in the message it wants to get across. 

Sacramento will debut exclusively in theaters on April 11, 2025, courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.