Trash Mountain follows Gavin (Caleb Hearon), a millennial comedian and drag show host who is pulled from his urban Chicago community back to his rural upbringing in Missouri. There, he and his sister Abbi have to figure out the arrangements following the death of their estranged father, whose house is filled with an overwhelming amount of stuff.
It’s a nice, tender film with a very simple shooting method that allows space for some of the funny dialogue they make out of this mostly serious grief story, where a complicated family history collides with the natural sadness of losing a father. The film makes gallows humour out of the logistical harassment of having to deal with the death of a loved one whose affairs were not exactly in order. Gavin has some level of sadness, but he puts it off because it isn’t as strong due to the lack of closeness he had with his father before he passed away. There is also the lack of liberty he feels in coming back to Missouri since, without these family ties, he would probably never cross state lines to return.
His sister Abbi (Zooey Deschanel) wants a closer relationship with him, but Gavin never sees his return as a chance to make their bond stronger. Rather, reconnecting with her becomes something that helps him feel a bit happier, considering how much he loathes his return to Missouri. There is some nice music and there are some good jokes, but there’s about an even number of jokes that work and those that don’t, which makes the humorous experience a little disappointing.
That wouldn’t matter as much if the emotional core of the film were really compelling, but unfortunately, while it has a nice concept and feels very personal, the sentimental moments are not as strong and also feature weaker music. Caleb does a pretty good job carrying this film as the lead, but Zooey, while solid, is not an inspiring running mate for this cast. I did really like Kyle Marvin as Abbi’s husband, who I think nails his comedic timing.
Trash Mountain is playing at TIFF ’26. For more information, click here.
