C’mon C’mon: Why Mike Mills Wanted to Make a Film About Raising a Child

The director talks through his new film, C’mon C’mon – a powerfully emotive study of familial dynamics, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman

American director Mike Mills makes films about family. In 2010’s Beginners, he explored his father’s cancer diagnosis, and his experience of coming out late in life. His mother was the focal point of 2016’s 20th Century Women, and now, with C’mon C’mon, his child is taking centre stage. The filmmaker’s signature handle on heartfelt sincerity is on display again in this film, too: it’s a tender and poignant depiction of the ways we continue to grow up in life, even as adults. Mills’ command of family dynamics and coming-of-age anxieties, coupled with his attention to the warm familiarity of spaces occupied by those you love, means his filmmaking resides in a realm of profound comfort, with careful insights into how we are shaped by the people around us.

C’mon C’mon follows radio journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix), who plays the somewhat distant yet loving uncle to young Jesse (Woody Norman). Johnny is called upon to look after his nephew by his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) while Jesse’s father struggles through a bipolar episode. It’s a tall order for Johnny, whose work takes him across the country and whose ability to help even himself, let alone a child, is questionable. Yet in becoming a surrogate father-figure for Jesse, he begins to open himself up to a new world of engaging with love and compassion for a family he needs more than he knew. Phoenix and Norman are effortlessly compatible performers; in both their bickering and affection, there is something deeply familial about their energy together. Ahead of the film’s release last week, we caught up with Mills to find out more about its inspirations.

C’mon, C’mon (Film Still)