Trash Mountain

Gavin (Caleb Hearon) has found his home in the comedy and queer communities of the Windy City. After the death of his hoarder father in rural Missouri, he returns to his conservative hometown to sort through all of his dad’s things (i.e. “trash mountain”). It’s a place loaded with baggage, both literally and emotionally, where he’s never felt like he could be himself. Yet even with aid from his supportive and upbeat sister Abbi (Zooey Deschanel) and his emotional Grandma Helen (Jackie Weaver), Gavin struggles to pick up the pieces of the fractured self that he’s left behind.

Directed with a lighthearted and humanistic touch by Chicago’s own Kris Rey (I Used to Go Here) and co-written by Chicago comedy veteran Hearon, Trash Mountain is a winning coming-of-age story rooted in the poignant and funny complexities of real Midwestern life. Magnetic performances and a witty script make this heartfelt comedy a loving portrait of family bonds and self-acceptance.