Mark Duplass and the inflection point at SXSW: Their Town turns family filmmaking into a generational mirror
mark duplass arrives at a turning point this weekend as Their Town premieres at South by Southwest, a film built from a distinctly family-centered production choice: Katie Aselton directed while Mark Duplass stayed away from set to care for their youngest daughter, and the script was written with their oldest daughter, Ora Duplass, in mind.
What happens when Mark Duplass keeps family logistics inside the creative plan?
The making of Their Town is framed as a practical and emotional puzzle: Aselton directed, while Mark Duplass was kept away from the filming because “someone had to stay home to look after their youngest daughter. ” Duplass described it as a pragmatic reality of family filmmaking. The decision also intersected with a creative one. Duplass considered directing the script himself, then quickly realized it was a film for Aselton to make, pointing to her sense of “visual poetry” and—more importantly—her relationship with Ora Duplass and how that relationship would shape the film. He described mother and daughter as “very, very similar, ” pairing emotional intelligence with deep insecurity, qualities he felt were required for the film and the role.
The result is not positioned as a novelty of relatives working together, but as a project where the production setup is part of the story’s intent. Ora Duplass makes a feature acting debut as Abby, a teenager in Maine cast in her high school production of Our Town. When her boyfriend unexpectedly drops out, a quiet newcomer—Matt, played by Chosen Jacobs—is pushed into an emotionally intimate situation. Another account of the film describes Abby’s last-minute counterpart as a quiet stagehand and highlights a night of wandering in Bangor, Maine, where Abby and Matt find unexpected connections, with final moments described as especially beautiful.
What if Their Town becomes a referendum on teen connection and tech rejection?
Their Town is described as elaborating on themes that appeared in Duplass’s indie TV show Penelope, particularly the idea that teens are increasingly rejecting modernity and technology. Duplass also framed the script as a reaction to what he was seeing in YA television aimed at his kids—and what he felt was missing. He said the characters on screen did not feel like his kids or their peers, describing the real group he observes as “really introspective, somewhat hopeful, fairly sad, deeply anxious, ” and “desperate for real connection. ” He contrasted that with what he believed streaming-era assumptions suggest, emphasizing a more platonic need for closeness in a world that feels frightening.
Centering the story around Thornton Wilder’s Our Town was part of that strategy. Duplass called the play “a big piece of Americana lore, ” while also acknowledging he never took part in or watched a high school production. Yet his personal distance from the play was less important than how it resonates with others and how that resonance connects to what he sees in teenagers now. He described the play as “dripping with nostalgia, ” capturing people wondering whether life will be as hopeful, sweet, and fulfilling as prior generations promised—and the sadness that it may not be.
What happens when Bangor becomes the setting for a pre-cellphone mood?
The film’s setting and shooting location, Bangor, Maine, is presented as integral to the atmosphere. Duplass knew the town well because Aselton’s family lives nearby, and he felt it was a place where kids could walk around freely at night and feel a connection to a pre-cellphone era. In that framing, Bangor is not just a backdrop but a way to stage the film’s core tension: nostalgia for a promised future meeting contemporary anxiety and longing for real connection.
In the film, Abby and Matt move through their hometown over the course of a night, a structure that supports intimate conversation without the pressure of plot-heavy devices. One account explicitly links this kind of single-night connection to inspiration from filmmaker Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, which Mark Duplass remembers driving to see in 1995 when he was around the age Ora Duplass is now. He said he was struck by the dignity given to young people’s thoughts, and by a tone that was “loose, ” “casual, ” and “sweet. ” That sensibility is presented as aligned with the “unforced dynamic” between the teenagers in Their Town.
Ora Duplass, reflecting on acting the material, described discovering emotionality in moments that looked straightforward on the page. She described performance as bringing unexpected feelings and connections to real life, helping emotion come through while also fostering personal growth.
What happens after SXSW: can a family-made film bring generations together?
The SXSW premiere is framed as an especially fitting launch, not only because of the Linklater connection, but also because Their Town arrives 11 years after Mark Duplass delivered a well-known festival speech urging indie filmmakers to lead their own projects and accept that “the cavalry is not coming. ” A second account describes the family’s new film as epitomizing that approach—building a supportive, self-generated platform for a new performer inside the family, while keeping the project anchored in an indie filmmaking model.
That support did not erase the strain inherent in working with family. Aselton said she was nervous about directing her daughter—who was 16 during filming—and described extensive logistical and emotional preparation. She described conversations with Ora Duplass, with her therapist, and with Mark Duplass late at night, emphasizing that they did enough work in advance that, once on set, “everyone was on their best behavior. ” She credited Ora Duplass as “incredibly emotionally intelligent” and attuned to when she needed to step up. Aselton also noted the shoot lasted 12 days, which placed limits on how long the family had to sustain the intensity of working together under pressure.
As Their Town meets audiences at SXSW, the film’s news value is less about celebrity and more about craft decisions that mirror the story’s emotional thesis: the clearest connection sometimes comes from constraints, and the most contemporary teen portrait may be one that dares to be nostalgic, anxious, and searching—without forcing itself to look like the versions of youth that Mark Duplass says he does not recognize.
