The House of Tomorrow (2017)

Directed by Peter Livolsi. Starring Asa Butterfield, Alex Wolff, Nick Offerman, Ellen Burstyn, Maude Apatow, Michaela Watkins, Alec George. (R)

Practically living a hermetically-sealed life with his austere grandmother (Burstyn) in a geodesic dome, young Sebastian (Butterfield) meets moody Jared (Wolff), a teenage heart-transplant patient, and they bond over the rebellious energy of punk rock. Adapted by the writer/director from a novel by Peter Bognanni, and inspired in part by futurism architect and former Mensa president Buckminster Fuller (who knew Burstyn in real life—there’s even video footage of the two of them together, played during the film). Predictable but pleasant coming-of-age tale, not quite as mawkish as it might seem on the surface, but the script is too undercooked to ever really take off, especially in Sebastian’s relationship with Jared’s sister, played by Apatow. Music from the Germs, Stranglers, Richard Hell, Stiff Little Fingers, and more can be heard throughout; too bad that the snotty defiance and destruction practiced by these characters is about as “punk” as Good Charlotte.

61/100