''Little Boxes'' is a 2016 American comedy-drama film, directed by Rob Meyer and written by Annie Howell. It stars

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

Nelsan Ellis Nelsan Ellis (November 30, 1977 – July 8, 2017) was an American actor and playwright. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO television series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), for which he won a Sa ...

, Armani Jackson,

Oona Laurence Oona Laurence (born August 1, 2002) is an American actress. She is best known for the role of Matilda Wormwood in ''Matilda'' on Broadway alongside Bailey Ryon, Milly Shapiro, and Sophia Gennusa. She began her career as a New York City-based c ...

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

, and

Christine Taylor Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marcia Brady in ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' and ''A Very Brady Sequel'', as well as roles in films like '' The Craft'', '' The Wedding Singer'', '' ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

on April 15, 2016. It was released on April 14, 2017, by

Gunpowder & Sky Gunpowder & Sky is a Los Angeles-based independent studio that produces feature films, series, short-form content, and podcasts. The company was founded in 2016 by Van Toffler and Floris Bauer. History In January 2016 Van Toffler (former CEO o ...

Plot

An interracial family struggles to adjust when they move from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to a small town in Washington State.

Cast

as Gina McNulty-Burns *

as Mack Burns * Armani Jackson as Clark Burns *

as Ambrosia Reed *

as Helene Wisdom-Finkelstein *

as Joan Reed * Miranda McKeon as Julie Hanson * Maliq Johnson as William *

Nadia Dajani Nadia Dajani (born December 26, 1965) is an American actress. She hosts the baseball comedy web series ''Caught Off Base with Nadia''. Early life and education Dajani was born in Los Angeles, California on December 26, 1965. She grew up the youn ...

as Maya *

Veanne Cox Veanne Cox (born January 19, 1963) is an Emmy and Tony-nominated American stage and screen actress and former ballet dancer. Early life Cox was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She is a 1981 graduate of Manchester High School in Chesterfield, Virgin ...

as Sarita * David Charles Ebert as Tom Gibson * Will Janowitz as Steve * Julie Hays as Dean Maureen * Dierdre Friel as Diane Hanson

Production

In May 2015, it was announced Rob Meyer would direct the film from a screenplay by Annie Howell, with

Cary Fukunaga Cary Joji Fukunaga (born July 10, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He first gained recognition for writing and directing the 2009 film '' Sin nombre'' and the 2011 adaptation of ''Jane Eyre''. He was the first director of partial East Asian des ...

executive producing. In August 2015,

and

were reported to have been cast in the leads.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on April 15, 2016. Shortly after,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

acquired SVOD rights to the film. Gunpowder & Sky later acquired distribution rights and set the film for an April 14, 2017, release.

Reception

It received a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes."Little Boxes"
, Rotten Tomatoes Neal Genzlinger of the ''New York Times'' said, "Countless movies have examined what happens when a country mouse goes to the city; this one shows that leaving a gentrified urban oasis for a small-town world can be just as jolting."

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, m/little_boxes 2016 films 2016 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American independent films Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in New York (state) Films scored by Kris Bowers 2010s English-language films Films about interracial romance 2016 independent films 2010s American films