MICHAEL BARBIERI

LITTLE MEN (2016)
Starring Theo Taplitz, Greg Kinnear, Michael Barbieri, Paulina García, Jennifer Ehle, Talia Balsam, Mauricio Bustamante, Teeka Duplessis, Clare Foley and Andy Karl. Directed by Ira Sachs.

When 13-year-old Jake's grandfather dies, his family moves from Manhattan back into his father's old Brooklyn home. There, Jake befriends the charismatic Tony, whose single mother Leonor, a dressmaker from Chile, runs the shop downstairs.

Soon, Jake's parents Brian and Kathy - one, a struggling actor, the other, a psychotherapist - ask Leonor to sign a new, steeper lease on her store. For Leonor, the proposed new rent is untenable, and a feud ignites between the adults. Jake and Tony don't seem to notice; the two boys, and begin to develop a formative kinship as they discover the pleasures of being young in Brooklyn. But the children can't avoid the problems of their parents forever, and soon enough, the adult conflict intrudes upon the borders of their friendship.