Punk songs, casserole dinners and a wanted man hiding in a stranger's bedroom: Adam Rehmeier's Dinner in America turns the American Midwest into the setting for an abrasive, oddly tender love story. The 2020 film mixes comedy, drama, music and romance across 106 minutes.
What is Dinner in America about?
A punk rocker is on the run, with trouble behind him and nowhere safe to stay. A young woman in the same part of the country has built her whole inner life around one band, and it happens to be his. Their paths cross, and the two end up travelling together through the fading suburbs of the Midwest: past strip malls, family dining rooms and half-empty neighbourhoods. He is loud and combative; she is quiet and easily overlooked. As the days go on, each starts to see something in the other that the surrounding suburbs never bothered to notice, and a road trip of small rebellions becomes something closer to a partnership.
About the cast
Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs carry the film as its central pair. Around them, Pat Healy, Griffin Gluck, Lea Thompson and Mary Lynn Rajskub appear in supporting parts, with Ryan Malgarini and Nick Chinlund also in the ensemble. The supporting players supply the suburban world the two leads keep colliding with.
Context & significance
Rehmeier's film sits in the tradition of American independent comedies about misfits, yet its tone is rougher than most. The humour is confrontational, and the suburban backdrop is shown as worn out and fading. Music is central: punk is not decoration here but the thing that connects the two leads, which is why the film is listed under music as well as romance. The title points to the other half of the picture, the dinner table as a symbol of ordinary suburban routine, set against two people who do not fit it. Dinner in America was warmly received by audiences and has built a loyal following since release, especially among viewers drawn to offbeat romances.
Watching Dinner in America on Ktime
You can stream Dinner in America on K-Time with a Persian dub or with Persian subtitles. This page is free to read, and playback starts once you log in to your K-Time account. Menus, search and player controls are all in Farsi, designed for the Iranian diaspora.