In debut film ‘Adult Adoption,’ Toronto playwright Ellie Moon spreads her wings

Can adults adopt each other?

Surely we’ve all wondered that at some point, perhaps in the context of a gentle boss or cool professor. Why is the idea of adoption — a logical conclusion to the ever-popular notion of building a “chosen family” — limited to children?

Surprise, surprise, playwright Ellie Moon’s film “Adult Adoption” explores these questions in great depth, funneling that curiosity into a pastel-clad, sticker-wielding protagonist named Rosy.

Rosy, played by Moon, aged out of the foster care system years ago — and by her own estimation, she turned out just fine — but judging by the truly enormous stockpile of Kraft Dinner in her cupboard, as well as the persistent din of chaotic hyperpop in her headphones, something is amiss.

When Rosy learns of a website which claims to match lonely adults with equally lonely, older adults, something seems to click. It’s Tinder for the maladjusted, Bumble for the everlasting child — a first step toward adult adoption. Maybe this could be the key to Rosy’s happiness as a grown-up.

“It’s objectively the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Moon, 29, said in an interview about making the film.

“I wanted to write something about longing — platonic longing. The parent-child archetype kept cropping up, and I just came back to it.” Moon cited Sheila Heti’s book “Motherhood” and its picking-apart of the relationship between mothers and daughters as integral to her development of her debut film.

“This idea popped into my head: what if there was something like a dating site, but instead of matching lovers to lovers, it matched adults who want parental guidance with adults who desire to give parental guidance? I looked it up, and it doesn’t really exist. There’s Reddit threads and Facebook groups, little corners of the internet … but a dedicated space exists in the film,” she said.

Moon is perhaps best known for her work as a playwright: plays such as “Asking For It,” “What I Call Her” and “This Was the World” showed off her writing talent at an early age. She’s maintained a steady acting career at the same time, appearing in television shows such as “Pretty Hard Cases” and “Murdoch Mysteries.”

“Adult Adoption” first materialized like most of Moon’s writing projects — in an office at Tarragon Theatre, where Moon was playwright-in-residence for four years.

When it became clear the story was a film, not a play, the pieces started falling into place. Executive producer Laurence Siegel came on board. A “not-insignificant” amount of money appeared. Everything seemed dreamy, a real film fiercely attainable.

Filming was set to begin on March 25, 2020.

“It was actually kind of hilarious,” said Moon. Filming for “Adult Adoption” was indeed postponed until a year later.

“Making the film during COVID would have eaten up about 40 per cent of our budget. And we did lose money, because we’d put down payments on locations, and we had to pay crew, and then we didn’t make the movie (until 2021),” she said.

“I spent a lot of time pretty stressed out. But we kept pushing and knocking on everyone’s doors.”

An “angel” investor saved the project, and filming commenced in March of 2021. Fans of #theaTO — or Toronto theatre — will spot some familiar faces on screen, including playwright Michael Healey and actor Craig Lauzon.

“I don’t think we auditioned anyone. They were all offers,” said Moon. “The people we got are just, like, chef’s kiss.”

For Moon, making a movie has heightened her tolerance for risk-taking. Though, in her words, “you have to have taken a lot of risks to make three plays,” too. The two mediums constitute opposite sides of the same precarious coin.

But making a film signifies a coming-of-age for Moon, who found the pandemic lockdown to be “a time of real personal growth,” as is the case with many twentysomethings who lost years of their youth to the COVID years.

“I feel much more free,” said Moon. “I think I was taking risks before, but it was causing me real anxiety. I don’t think making something would cause me that much anxiety anymore — but I might just be getting older.”

How very fitting for “Adult Adoption.”

“Adult Adoption” has a theatrical run in Toronto at Revue Cinema from Jan. 14 through Jan. 19. Tickets are available at revuecinema.ca.

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