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In January, 24-year-old director Cooper Raiff told The Hollywood Reporter that his second feature film “Cha Cha Real Smooth” was inspired by his idea to tell a coming-of-age story about “a 12-year-old, a 22-year-old and a 32-year-old.” The romantic comedy, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, follows Andrew, the 22-year-old at the center of this trio, who moves back home with his family in New Jersey after graduating from Tulane. Played by Raiff himself, Andrew is a sweet but directionless young man who finds himself working at a mall food court and moonlighting as a bar mitzvah party starter. The 12-year-old and 32-year-old in his life are his little brother David (Evan Assante), with whom he shares a bedroom, and Domino (Dakota Johnson), a local mother. In portraying these parallel coming-of-age stories, Raiff assuages the fears of anyone in his audience, young or old, who feels they aren’t quite sure of their place in the world. “Cha Cha Real Smooth” pulses with a steadily thrumming heartbeat as it honestly and sensitively charts the bittersweet confusion of growing up.

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” features a myriad of moments that reflect the uncertainty of post-grad life with both humor and poignancy. In one instance, Andrew tells his college girlfriend Maya (Amara Pedroso Saquel), who’s heading to Barcelona on a Fulbright scholarship, that he’s going to start working for a “really great” nonprofit after graduation. The scene then immediately cuts to him working at a joint called Meat Sticks, asking a customer if he’d like chili directly on his hot dog or on the side. Raiff brings to life the increasingly likable Andrew with playful humor and a genuine openness. The director may have even written an unrealistically altruistic protagonist, who is more often than not kind to a fault. Nevertheless, Andrew is both disarming and endearing in his somewhat obvious “good guy" characterization.

When Andrew accompanies his brother to a bat mitzvah and coaxes people to join him on the dance floor, he falls into a job he definitely didn’t apply for: the designated party starter at subsequent bar and bat mitzvahs in town. With this amusing premise, the narrative responds lightheartedly and realistically to Andrew’s post-grad stagnation. When he asks his high school friend Macy (Odeya Rush) if she thinks this new gig is silly, she shrewdly responds, “On one hand it is silly, but on the other hand so is every job. Selling your time’s insane.” With smartly written dialogue, “Cha Cha Real Smooth” confronts the reality of entering the often unforgiving capitalist job market with an acerbic, discerning eye.

As Andrew works more parties, he gets to know Domino, portrayed with a subdued wit and wary guardedness by Johnson. Quickly forming a connection with her and her daughter Lola (Vanessa Burghardt), his relationship with both of them grows into a touching exploration of unexpected kinship. Domino hires Andrew to look after Lola, who has autism, when she’s busy, and he and Lola form a special bond of their own as she slowly lets him into her world. Complicating this is the predictable development of Andrew’s feelings for Domino, who is complex and messy yet sympathetic thanks to Johnson’s nuanced performance. Unlike most romantic comedies, their connection is infused with a realism that is at times heartwarming and at times heartbreaking.

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” succeeds in hitting all of its emotional beats, whether lighthearted or serious. A bar mitzvah brawl amongst kids and parents alike unfolds as the titular song “Cha Cha Slide” hilariously plays in the background. A tender moment where Andrew tells his mother (Leslie Mann) he looks back on his childhood with fondness evokes a warm nostalgia that might prompt some viewers to call their parents. As Andrew moves through new relationships and experiences, stumbling and growing along the way, “Cha Cha Real Smooth” is perhaps best described as a film about the inevitability of change. While grappling with the shifting plates of his rapidly transitioning life, he comes to understand that some relationships are beautiful but fleeting. However, as his mother wisely reminds him when he laments this, “Your memories aren’t going anywhere.”

—Arts Chair Jaden S. Thompson can be reached at jaden.thompson@thecrimson.com