Charlie Harper

Harper and Charlie try to build a life together. While Harper strives to carve out a career as a chef, Charlie is stuck. Facing challenges in their relationship, they struggle to prove they are meant for each other, but will it be enough?

CODA breakout Emilia Jones and Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer) star in this charming, grounded love story from first-time filmmakers Mac Eldridge and Tom Dean.

What should we do with our happy memories when they’re inextricably linked to ones that cause us pain? That’s the central question of Charlie Harper. The complicated relationship between Charlie (Nick Robinson) and Harper (a terrific Emilia Jones, star of the Oscar-winning CODA) unfolds in a non-linear way, illustrating the shifts in how they relate to one another over time. We check in at several points in their life together: when they first meet as teenagers exchanging mixtapes, regrouping after high school graduation, and leaving their small Florida town together for a bigger life in New Orleans.

The two have an undeniable connection, but cracks quickly start to show. Harper, ambitiously pursuing a culinary career, is frustrated by Charlie’s listlessness. He feels condescended to when she asks him to consider taking a college course or cutting back on drinking. At various points, the characters directly offer a recollection from some undefined point in the future, when it’s no longer clear what they are to each other anymore. These scenes serve as poignant reminders of the subjectivity of memory.

Screening at Luna Leederville from September 24.

Festivals

2026 Toronto International Film Festival | Official Selection