We all remember our teenage years, a kaleidoscope of hormones, the desire to be treated like an adult, whilst you are still seen as a child, and the mounting pressure to have it all figured out. It is simultaneously the most formative and the most crushing seven years any of us will ever experience, burdened with the random reliving of our most embarrassing moments. This time period is constantly referenced in the media and literature, proving it stands the test of time as a universal bond we all share. Director Kate Cobb decides to add to the conversation in her beautiful sophomore feature, BRB, which BRB (2026), which has its World Premiere at Slamdance 2026 as part of the Breakout Features line-up.
Our teenagers in question are estranged sisters, rebellious Dylan (Zoe Colletti) and by-the-book Sam (Autumn Best), who are forced to coexist while their parents go out of town. With both Dylan and Sam experiencing boy troubles of their own, we are taken on a transformative road trip where they learn and unlearn so much about themselves.
Best and Colletti bring a fiery yet heartwarming magnetism to their dynamic characters. It is astonishing to believe that they are not related in real life. Best perfectly encapsulates the resentment a younger sibling can hold towards their older sibling becoming an adult before them, without explicitly verbalizing it. In tandem, Colletti powerfully presents the shielding older siblings provide to protect their younger siblings from the scary aspects of adulthood. Together, they draw out the most authentic performances from each other, which will resonate with many teenage and sibling experiences.
Their on-screen connection is only amplified by Cobb’s magnificent direction, allowing for lingering takes during pivotal, charged sequences. This gives Best and Colletti the freedom to utterly lose themselves in their roles and elevate the emotional punch they want audiences to receive. Tonally, Cobb draws clear inspiration from filmmakers like Greta Gerwig and Olivia Wilde in the way they tenderly and genuinely treat teenage struggle in Lady Bird (2017) and Booksmart (2019).
BRB fully embraces its mid-2000s setting, leaning into the grungy clothing, massive Macintosh computers, and rollerskating rinks. This is reinforced by Cobb’s decision to splice Sam’s camcorder footage into the feature. Along with cinematographer Wojciech Kielar’s dreamy-like colour grading and camera work, the film is reminiscent of how Sean Baker’s The Florida Project (2017) vividly transports you to a specific era. It radiates the exact nostalgic feeling that audiences would want from a film set in this time period.
Writers Sydney Blackburn and Michael Waller work magic in crafting a narrative that is so true to the teenage coming-of-age experience, whilst keeping audiences on their toes with a couple of twists up their sleeves. The dialogue is consistently witty, heart-aching and natural. Even in the quieter moments, Mikal Cronin’s score offers the right amount of tension and introspection to its listeners, proving to be almost like the musical representation of a teenager’s mind. It is infectious, rhythmic and grating.
Being a teenager means being desperate to fit in, constantly making mistakes and wanting to be perceived as cool. It can be one of the most alienating times in a person’s life, where you unequivocally believe that no one understands what you are going through. More often than not, it can be a devastatingly traumatic experience and have lasting ramifications on our mental state as adults. However, Cobb reminds us that part of yourself deserves to heal and delivers that as a warm hug in the film.
BRB is a breakout feature in every respect of the word, from the performances by Best and Colletti, the direction by Cobb and each crew member who made the project possible. It is a film directly from the heart of its creators to the hearts of the viewers and deserves to be seen by the masses.
Review Courtesy of Nandita Joshi
Feature Image Courtesy of In the Rye Productions & CHICAGO MEDIA ANGELS