Parents' Guide to Spinster

Welcome to Debbie Downer: The Movie. Gaby is down on love, down on marriage, down on family. Frankly, she's a drag, and it's a big ask to invite audiences to hang out with her for an hour and a half. Despite wickedly cynical dialogue that could be hilarious coming from, say, Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Tiffany Haddish, Peretti's pessimistic delivery doesn't get much in the way of laughs.

What Spinster lacks in style, mirth, and likability, it makes up for in meat. Gaby questions the validity of marriage and children as a blanket application in the modern age. She debates happily married women with children, a judgmental oaf, and her own remarried father -- and finds solace in the happiness of her gray-haired neighbor who's fulfilled by her purposeful work. Most of the supporting characters are refreshing because they look like real people, not Hollywood versions of real people. The female characters have realistic careers, and men with realistic bodies and appearances are objects of desire. These are positive steps in an authentic direction. But there's no denying that Gaby is an energy suck, and while Spinster has a positive message, you and your teen may be too drained to care.