A group of friends Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn, Jessica Hall and Ayden Mayeri made an album in the early 2000s with the help of one of their mothers Robin O’Brien and promptly put it aside when they moved on their lives.  During the pandemic the album turned up on an obscure music forum and things took off from there.

25 years later and now actor Ayden Mayeri shows off the footage and photos she took back in the day and the documentary is constructed around these with the footage of the group getting back together to record a new song and the eventual re-release of the album. I had to skip out early to make another screening but it did seem like it would go on to be a modest success for the label that released it as a LP.

2000s nostalgia is a thing now, help me I’m old! Some of my own photos are now over 20 years old and have been put into the state library for “cultural significance”. This is another documentary where there would not really be anything to see without the footage taken back in the day. Some internet smartarse said as much in a comment most likely before seeing the movie.

The footage and photos were used well enough but were a bit over-used towards the end. Having not as many elements is OK but just don’t repeat them as much or they will grow tired.

This is a good companion the Y2K Time Bomb (2022) doco I saw a few years back but this one is more on the cultural side than the technology and social one.

It’s a fun enough doco although I agree with the mother in that it was really only a “blip” in their lives and stop going on and on about it, just live! Should do well on wider release especially if they have a 2000s party alongside (I had to rush off so I missed the one at MIFF).

Film details:

Director: Ayden Mayeri

Producer: Rachael Fung, Ayden Mayeri, Barry Rothbart

Screenwriter: Ayden Mayeri, Barry Rothbart

Cinematographer: Barry Rothbart

Composer: X-Cetra, Robin O’Brien

Editor: Phil Rosanova, Audrey Leach

Featured Subjects: Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn, Jessica Hall, Robin O’Brien, Ayden Mayeri

Year:  2026

Length: 96 mins

Country: USA

Language: English

Genre: Documentary, Music

Victorian Premiere