‘Hannah Ha Ha’ Puts New Twist On Old Coming-Of-Age Tale

Early on in the new indie drama Hannah Ha Ha, the brother of the titular Hannah (Hannah Lee Thompson), comes to stay with her and their father. The buttoned-up brother, Paul (Roger Mancusi), has a high-powered corporate job and is nothing like his sister, who is content caring for their aging dad and taking odd jobs around town to stay afloat.

At first, Paul engages with Hannah with mild affection. But when Hannah dives into her everyday activities, like mowing the lawn and washing her hands, while Paul conducts a business phone call, you can see his frustration mount over how loud she’s being, despite Hannah’s blissful (or determined?) unawareness.

The clash of siblings is always ripe for dramatic tension, and it’s particularly well done in this case. You can see Paul reasoning with himself, at first dismissing Hannah’s distractions as unintentional, then becoming wound up as he believes she’s willfully trying to throw him off.

It sets up a sweet and realistic movie about finding oneself and figuring out how much the opinions of others matter. In the end, Hannah and Paul both have a point—which is often true in real life, when there’s rarely one side to a story.

Hannah is the type of character many can relate to. She has a place in the community, but she’s not driven to the “bigger and better” like her brother. She’s still figuring out her purpose as her 26th birthday nears. Directors Jordan Tetewsky and Joshua Pikovsky, who also wrote the film, said they felt Hannah was relatable to people in their 20s.

“We had just finished making a short film with our friend Hannah. It was called Hannah in April. We shot it during a cold week in March, and we had a great time,” the directors said via email. “With summer fast approaching, we decided we wanted to make a feature starring Hannah. We very quickly wrote a script. Hannah seemed like a compelling figure to represent our generation. The ideas came pretty naturally from experiences we’ve had or our friends have had in trying to find a way.”

You can go back decades and find films that chronicle the difficulties people face in their 20s—from moving on from old friends to struggling in jobs they’re ill-suited to or overqualified for to coming to terms with their sexuality.

But the topic remains ripe for exploration because each coming-of-age story is a little different. “We are happy our piece is standing out for many,” the directors said via email. “When bringing our projects to life, we strive to make the movies we want to see, and in doing so, hope this is what separates our voice. Having made Hannah Ha Ha truly independently, decisions were only made in consideration of what we wanted to say with the friends that also helped make it happen.”

The movie from Fair Oaks Entertainment and Papertree Pictures opens in select theaters nationwide, including New York City and Los Angeles, today. It will begin streaming on Fandor on March 21.