Peas and Carrots begins like a fairly conventional teenage coming-of-age story centered on Joey Wethersby, a sixteen-year-old New Yorker whose parents were part of a 1990s one-hit-wonder band. Joey persuades her parents to regroup into a new band, sparking her journey towards artistic and personal discovery.
But this seemingly straightforward plot quickly twists into an often baffling high school fantasy that struggles to find its footing.
The film shifts between Joey’s real-world family dynamics and surreal, alternate-dimension scenes where dialogue is limited to the repetitive phrase “peas and carrots,” an odd choice that neither clarifies nor enhances the story.
This linguistic constraint generates moments of odd humor but mostly results in stilted and awkward exchanges that hinder audience connection.
Critics and viewers alike note how the film’s premise, while inventive, leads to a confusing narrative. The balance between typical teen drama elements and the bizarre fantasy sequences feels uneven, with the story struggling to maintain momentum.
Some praise goes to lead actress Kirrilee Berger, whose portrayal of Joey carries authenticity and relatable teenage energy. She effectively expresses the frustration and confusion her character experiences, making her performance a standout amid the film’s awkwardness.
Unfortunately, her charm alone cannot fully compensate for the script’s patchy execution and the film’s inability to smoothly integrate its imaginative concept with effective storytelling.
Surreal Storytelling Meets Unfulfilled Potential
The film attempts to be more than just a teen drama by embedding surreal, dreamlike sequences where Joey is transported nightly to an alternate reality. This world is inhabited by characters who communicate almost exclusively using three fixed words: “peas,” “and,” and “carrots.”
The idea seems to symbolize communication barriers and deeper emotional disconnects within Joey’s family and herself. Yet, the execution leaves audiences puzzled rather than enlightened. These segments often feel disconnected and stilted, breaking the narrative flow instead of complementing the real-world story.
Some viewers might appreciate the film as a kind of experimental family musical comedy blending existential themes with light humor and music. The soundtrack and musical performances, including contributions from notable figures like Marky Ramone, attempt to add vibrancy and cultural texture to the film.
Peas And Carrots (Credit: Black Sand Pictures)
But ultimately, the surreal elements create confusion, disrupting any emotional engagement. The script’s refusal to explain or contextualize the fantasy dimension leaves many questions unanswered, frustrating viewers hoping for clearer thematic insight or character development.
The comedy, described as subtle and dry by some, offers occasional relief but is overshadowed by the film’s awkward pacing and dialogue. Meanwhile, the family’s interpersonal tension and Joey’s journey toward self-expression get little room to grow beneath the script’s quirks.
The film’s ambition to mix multi-generational entertainment with a strange logic may intrigue niche audience members, yet for most, it feels like the story never reaches a satisfying resolution or meaningful emotional payoff.
What This Means for Viewers and the Film’s Future
Peas and Carrots leaves audiences with mixed feelings. While it contains elements that showcase potential, such as Kirrilee Berger’s engaging lead performance and a few clever musical moments, the experience is muddled by a confusing story and dialogue that often feels forced or unnatural.
The film’s attempt to blend high school drama with abstract fantasy comes across as disjointed, limiting its appeal to a broader audience.
Its theatrical release was limited, and the film is likely to find most of its viewers through streaming and home video, where more patient audiences might appreciate its offbeat nature without the pressure of the big screen expectations.
Fans of experimental cinema or surrealistic narratives may find some value in the film’s bold approach, but for viewers seeking a coherent, emotionally resonant story, Peas and Carrots is more frustrating than fulfilling.
The film also teases potential future developments with a post-credits scene that some feel should have been expanded to explore romantic or familial storylines more deeply.
This hint at a sequel or continuation leaves open the possibility that the filmmakers might refine the story and tone in upcoming projects. However, whether they can overcome the current film’s narrative shortcomings remains an open question.
Peas and Carrots is a perplexing film with undeniable ambition but flawed execution. It’s awkward high school fantasy and stilted dialogue create a confusing mix that alienates as often as it intrigues, making it a difficult watch for many but possibly an intriguing curiosity for others who value unique, risky storytelling ventures.
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” offers one of the most intimate, harrowing portraits of contemporary war-related trauma, turning an ordinary FaceTime conversation into a raw visual diary of life inside Gaza.
Directed by Sepideh Farsi, this documentary unfolds almost entirely through video calls with Fatma Hassouna, a young Palestinian photojournalist documenting her own life amid the relentless Israeli bombardment in 2024.
Unlike traditional war documentaries relying on expert voices or multiple perspectives, Farsi’s film centers on Fatma’s singular voice and her expressions gradually revealing the weight of daily survival under siege.
The phone’s patchy connection, with calls dropping and words hanging unfinished, becomes a poignant symbol of the fragmented lives this conflict shatters. Fatma’s storytelling, punctuated by moments of laughter, grief, and raw frustration, strips away the distance viewers often feel toward news reports.
Her accounts include fleeing bombed homes, losing loved ones in strikes, and enduring deprivation, no electricity, no running water, hunger, and the constant overhead threat of helicopters and snipers.
Remarkably, Fatma’s courage and resilience shine through, even as the weight of unending conflict leaves her increasingly exhausted and despondent.
What elevates the film beyond a simple war chronicle is Fatma’s artistry; her photographic work and poetry weave through the narrative, offering haunting glimpses of Gaza’s contradictory beauty and destruction.
This fusion creates a cinematic experience where the viewer is not just watching violence but feeling its emotional and physical toll. The decision to use single-screen phone calls projected in real time brings a surreal immediacy to the film, turning technology itself into a vessel of connection, despair, and witness.
The Human Cost and Unflinching Reality
The documentary’s power lies largely in its unvarnished portrayal of human suffering. Fatma’s story is not unique in Gaza, yet telling it with such honesty forces viewers to confront the scale and intimacy of civilian suffering in a conflict too often reduced to statistics or political rhetoric.
With scenes capturing the destruction of homes, buildings, and the obliteration of neighborhoods, the film vividly recalls the devastating toll on families, particularly children and the elderly. At one point, Fatma explains losing thirteen friends and family members in a single strike, including an infant.
Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk (Credit: Rêves d’Eau)
This becomes more than history or news; it becomes a personal tragedy recorded in fragmented phone calls that grow fewer as the war intensifies and Fatma’s strength wanes. In early calls, Fatma’s hope is palpable despite the horrors, but as months pass, a numbing despair settles in.
Her references to cultural works like “The Shawshank Redemption” articulate this shift from optimism to the recognition that hope can be dangerous in such a brutal environment.
The film also commemorates Fatma herself, who was killed in an airstrike shortly after the film’s premiere, adding a heartbreaking layer of urgency and remembrance.
Critics and festival audiences alike have recognized the film’s impact. It moves beyond mournful storytelling to a direct call to empathy, forcing viewers to reckon with war’s human face. Its style rejects sensationalism for a simple yet stark honesty that resonates deeply.
By framing Fatma’s experience as a continuous video diary, the documentary emphasizes how individual lives are caught in an interminable cycle of violence and loss, making the viewer a witness to both the endurance and fragility of hope in war zones.
Beyond Borders: The Film’s Wider Message
While this film is a searing account of Gaza, its influence extends widely as a testament to the universal human cost of conflict and the power of personal narratives in war documentation.
Sepideh Farsi’s choice to build the film around a single voice offers a potent reminder that behind every headline and ceasefire negotiation are countless overlooked lives, each marked by trauma and courage.
The dynamic between Farsi and Fatma, an Iranian filmmaker and a Gazan resident who never met in person but are connected through screens, also highlights how modern technology reshapes storytelling and activism under extreme circumstances.
The film’s festival success and critical acclaim have made it a cause célèbre, igniting conversations on media representation of Palestinian suffering and the role of documentary film in conflict zones.
It pushes audiences to consider how stories are shared and received amid global political indifference and complicity. The digital intimacy of the video calls cuts through the noise, creating a narrative that is at once deeply specific and hauntingly universal.
As ceasefire talks falter and the humanitarian crisis worsens, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” stands as both a document and a memorial, an effort to honor those caught in war’s shadows and amplify the voices of those silenced all too soon.
Fatma’s story challenges viewers to face the brutal truths of occupation without turning away and to consider the relentless resilience of those living in conflict’s grip, soul in hand.
This unique documentary has been widely reviewed and praised for its approach, including by sources such as The New York Times, The Film Stage, RogerEbert.com, and POV Magazine. It has resonated powerfully in an era when personal video storytelling shapes how global conflicts are understood and humanized.
The film’s rawness and technological immediacy make “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” a standout, capturing a period of recent history through the unfiltered lens of one courageous young woman’s life and death.
It is an essential watch for anyone seeking to grasp the brutal, ongoing reality in Gaza beyond headlines and political debate.
