“Uncertain Terms,” the newest film from director Nathan Silver, centers on Robbie (David Dahlbom), a thirty-something Brooklynite who leaves the city for a refuge, except not one he belongs in. Rather, it’s a secluded home for pregnant teenagers run by his aunt, where five teens at a time come to prepare for their children’s’ births hidden away from unsupportive families and judgmental peers. His aunt tries to be understanding of Robbie’s need for escape without prying too much into why exactly he’s come. This is the main question in the audience’s mind as well – Robbie’s trip clearly wasn’t planned and he ignores the constant ringing of his cell phone.
Robbie seems to be fleeing his own thoughts as much as any specific place or person and throws himself into the ample chores and maintenance work needed at the home. His aunt mainly is happy to have a capable handyman around and seems oblivious to what Robbie’s presence is doing to the precarious emotional balance between the girls. The only man around, Robbie soon becomes an object of fascination and speculation among the girls, who have little else to occupy their time. Despite some feeble resistance, Robbie is drawn into the social orbit of the girls over ten years younger than him, developing a particular rapport with a girl named Nina (India Menuez).
Eventually we learn that Robbie’s wife has just cheated on him, leading to his leaving both their home and hometown to reevaluate his entire life. Robbie tells Nina that the problem with young relationships is that you learn to live your adult life in a way that’s intertwined with a specific person and if that person is wrong for you, the whole foundation of your life crumbles. Robbie traces the problems in his own life back to the age the girls are now and we begin to question how much he is really seeing Nina and how much he is seeing her as a chance for a fresh start. The attentions of Robbie make the other girls jealous of Nina; the girls, linked in circumstance yet temperamentally varied, are uneasy allies in their shelter, yet when one girl goes against consensus, she becomes subject to the same judgmental rhetoric the home is supposed to be a shelter from.
Further complicating issues is that Nina is the one girl with a boyfriend, a vacant eyed screw-up who spends his time inventing new justifications for failing job interviews. Nina’s boyfriend is almost cartoonishly awful, if loyal, and is a perfect foil for the maturity that Robbie is supposed to offer. Yet if Robbie is older, he’s not necessarily wiser and his façade of a mature life comes crashing down in a climax that feels both surprising and inevitable.
“Uncertain Terms” is a quiet, searching film that poses questions about age and relationships and knows that trying to “save” someone is usually a plea for them to save you. The film’s refusal to romanticize its characters allows us to see authentically how the characters romanticize each other. Silver’s characters are flawed, vulnerable, and psychologically true, leading to a film somewhat painful to watch, but only because it understands human frailty all too well.
