CHAPERONE (Slamdance 2024) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

At 29 going on 16, Misha Moyamoto (Mitzi Akaha) refuses to grow up. She’s turned down a promotion at the small indie theater where she works because she doesn’t want more responsibility, and the house that she inherited from her grandmother is literally falling apart around her. The more pressure she feels that her well-meaning but increasingly fed up friends and family are putting on her to act her age, the harder Misha resists. A chance encounter with charismatic 18-year-old high school jock Jake (Laird Akeo) presents her with an unexpected chance to live the kind of carefree, laid back life she strives to, but the fledgling romance and her decision to keep her real age a secret from her new lover bring with it a range of thorny ethical questions that become increasingly harder for her to ignore.

While not quite in May December terrain in terms of the age difference that marks its central couple, Chaperone writer/director Zoë Eisenberg exchanges Todd Haynes’s gleeful spirit of melodramatic excess for something far more grounded, yet still as tantalizing. Set in Hawai’i, Chaperone’s all-AANHPI case is headed by the powerful match of Akaha and Akeo as Misha and Jake, a couple whose on-screen chemistry is so electrifying that at times, even despite ourselves, we can’t help but root for them as a couple. Until, of course, we remember what Misha has decided to consciously ignore: that the age gap between them is so great that while technically legal, it hinges on a grotesque and abusive power imbalance that puts the young high school student very much at the mercy of this adult woman who should know better.

Based on this simple yet effective premise, Chaperone is a compelling watch and a striking debut feature from Eisenberg that never shies away from showing the consequences of Misha’s decision to not tell Jake her actual age. On this front alone, Misha (and Akaha’s extraordinary performance) is a masterclass for those wanting a more ethically nuanced, emotionally intelligent take on the “strong female character” archetype: while Misha is in fact marked by her weaknesses and flaws, she is so distinct and unique a character that she aggressively rejects the usual kinds of cliches and stereotypes that have so long haunted the representation of women on screen.

With its world premiere at Slamdance, Chaperone is not an easy watch and it does not shy away from the often uncomfortable ethical terrain its storyline demands it explore, but it is also thoughtful and humane. Chaperone might not have the big name red carpet razzle dazzle of May December, but has just as much punch – if not more so.