Rating: 14A

First time writer-director Joseph Infantolino’s HELENA FROM THE WEDDING is a deceptively simple film about the institution of marriage as both a source comedy and a force of great anxiety.

Seven friends travel into the country to spend New Year’s Eve together with hopes of renewing bonds and celebrating their thirtysomething lives. With news of an unexpected addition, a peripheral friend named Helena, eyebrows are raised, and the wheels are set in motion for a holiday filled with insecurities, jealousy, and too much drinking.

The wonderfully portrayed central couple, Alex (Lee Tergesen) and Alic (Melanie Lynksey), does its best to steer the weekend’s hijinks and find a common ground of trust in an atmosphere of fear and disenchantment. HELENA FROM THE WEDDING is a tender comedy about the fragility of marital bliss and the longing for emotional security. Set against the pressure-cooker of New Year’s Eve expectations, the characters, with trepidation, say goodbye to their hang-ups and humbly greet the new year with hope.

TS