C'mon C'mon (2021) review

Journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) - who is engaged in this sociological "experiment" and going around the United States asking children what they think about the future - volunteers to watch over his nephew Jesse (Woody Norman) while his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) is tending to her mentally-ill husband Paul (Scoot McNairy).  It's really quite toothless and more or less severe melancholy (exacerbated by the black and white photography) passing itself off as something "deep": the kids he interviews naturally offer up "valuable insights" about humanity's "growth" while it uses Jesse's "precocious" nature - he plays this game where he pretends he's an orphan, you see - for little bits of "drama" (he disappears at random spots, freaking Johnny out).  I do appreciate Mills sort of addressing what I consider the ongoing "War Against Women" - male society can't resist trying to control what the fairest sex does with their bodies - but even that feels like a tacked on talking point.  I mean, come on.