{"id":15992,"date":"2023-08-15T11:27:55","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T15:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/areathirtythree.com\/blog\/?p=15992"},"modified":"2026-04-10T22:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T02:37:16","slug":"staying-in-the-swaddle-a-tale-of-the-unexpected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areathirtythree.com\/blog\/staying-in-the-swaddle-a-tale-of-the-unexpected\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying in the Swaddle, a Tale of the Unexpected"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADULT ADOPTION – directed by Karen Knox<\/a> – (some spoilers) ⁓<\/h4>\n
\"Ellie<\/a>

Rosy<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Rosy<\/b> (Ellie Moon<\/a>) works at a bank, and, as the story begins, her boss Susan<\/strong> (Jennifer Wigmore<\/a>) is retiring. Rosy does not like change and is very fond of Susan, but later we learn that Rosy has taken no sick days since she has been working there, so Susan might have been exploiting her a bit. The new boss (Jeremy Ferdman<\/a>) insists that Rosy take time off when necessary, and also decides she should share her office with Helen<\/b> (Leah Doz<\/a>), who likes to talk. It comes to light that Rosy’s mother died when she was three, and when she failed to find a permanent set of foster parents before she turned eighteen, Rosy “aged out” of the system and now lives on her own. Helen is amazed that Rosy is seemingly unfazed by this, and reacts with the film’s best line: “All this time,”<\/em> she says, “I thought you were just a basic blonde girl who loved her job.”<\/em> Rosy, who is not that, is pleased to have been perceived that way. <\/p>\n

\"Leah<\/a>

Leah Doz as the very intense Helen<\/b>, the film’s most stylish character.<\/p><\/div>\n

Helen later suggests that Rosy go online and look for people willing to adopt an adult. “I’m sure if you Google it, it’s a thing.”<\/em> she tells Rosy. “I found a lot of support online when I was getting over my eating stuff. And if you found parents, you’d have something to talk about with a therapist.”<\/em> Moon, who also wrote the screenplay, told Aisling Murphy of The Toronto Star<\/a>: “This idea popped into my head: what if there was something like a dating site, but instead of matching lovers to lovers, it matched adults who want parental guidance with adults who desire to give parental guidance? I looked it up, and it doesn\u2019t really exist. There\u2019s Reddit threads and Facebook groups, little corners of the internet…but a dedicated space exists in the film.”<\/em> <\/p>\n

\"Craig<\/a>

David<\/b> (Craig Lauzon<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Though she’s not a photographer and doesn’t toss a cup of tea at anybody, Rosy shares more than one personality trait with Polly Vandersma<\/em>, the main character in Patricia Rozema<\/a>‘s 1987 film I’VE HEARD THE MERMAID’S SINGING<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Downstairs from her apartment David<\/strong> (Craig Lauzon<\/a>) runs Akropolis Pies and Pastries<\/a> (located at 708 Danforth Avenue in Toronto when the film was made, but the location is now permanently closed). <\/p>\n

Rosy’s best scenes happen at the coffee shop. In one particularly intense moment, David and Rosy’s conversation is abruptly interrupted by an armed robber. Since she works at a bank, Rosy has been taught how to deal with this sort of thing, so she does not panic. <\/p>\n

A call from Nola<\/strong> (Chelsea Muirhead<\/a>) gives Rosy’s life even more unwanted complexity. Nola, who wants to transfer a significant amount of money to someone else’s business account, recognizes Rosy’s voice because they both once lived at the same group home. Rosy becomes suspicious of the money transfer, and stalls it. She and Nola exchange phone numbers.<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/a>

Chelsea Muirhead<\/a> as Nola Ruiz<\/b> — Muirhead is Yich\u00e8n’s daughter Yan Mi<\/b> in the third season of Jonathan Tropper<\/a>‘s crime drama WARRIOR<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

At her yoga class, Rosy has a panic attack and can’t make herself “stay in the swaddle”. Adult swaddling<\/a> is designed to remind one of what it was like in the womb. The yoga class panic could be why Rosy takes Helen’s advice and investigates adult adoption. She meets two prospective pseudo-parents, Brian<\/strong> (Michael Healey<\/a>), and Jane<\/strong> (Rebecca Northan<\/a>). Neither works out very well, but the red blanket Rosy knitted and intended as a gift for Jane becomes a security object that helps Rosy avoid panic and enjoy the swaddling at her next yoga session.<\/p>\n

Without really thinking about it, Rosy saves her new friend Nola (at least temporarily) from a cult-like Christian group with a sign in front featuring an ominous quote from the Book of Psalms<\/a>: “As a father has compassion for his children, so The Lord has for those who fear him”.<\/em> Church groups, or at least that one, might be looked at as another form of adult adoption. The other women in the cult are all either pregnant or have recently given birth, <\/p>\n

It is by no means certain that Nola is permanently cured of her cult-joining inclinations.<\/p>\n

\"Jane<\/a>

Jane<\/b> (Rebecca Northan<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ellie Moon told Steve Norton of ScreenFish<\/a>, that, from her point of view, the film is a discussion of unconditional, platonic love. “Unconditional love,”<\/em> she explained, “doesn’t show up in the way that you expect it to. It doesn’t come from one source. It probably can’t be found in one relationship, and yet, if you just go out into the world you can feel the force of unconditional love working on you in all these unexpected ways.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

ADULT ADOPTION<\/a> can be streamed on TUBI<\/a>, and is available on DVD<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ADULT ADOPTION – directed by Karen Knox – (some spoilers) ⁓ Rosy (Ellie Moon) works at a bank, and, as the story begins, her boss Susan (Jennifer Wigmore) is retiring. Rosy does not like change and is very fond of …<\/span> <\/p>\n

+<\/p>\n

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