Filmmaker Joe Swanberg might be known as one of the pioneers of the 2000s low-budget indie film movement known as “mumblecore,” but he’s established a signature, deeply humanist style all his own in the two decades since his directorial debut, “Kissing on the Mouth,” premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

But Swanberg remains fascinated by people, relationships, sex and love, and his latest film, “The Sun Never Sets,” explores the same themes that inspired him to pick up a digital camera back in 2004. Both “The Sun Never Sets” and “Kissing on the Mouth” feature triads of two men and one woman, ex-boyfriends and themes of jealousy, but in vastly different stages of life. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the saying goes, and that proves to be true in Swanberg’s filmic output.

A rom-dramedy set in Anchorage, Alaska, two of the love triangle participants are Wendy (Dakota Fanning) and Jack (Jake Johnson, Swanberg’s current muse; this is their fourth feature together). Jack is an older divorced dad; Wendy is in her early 30s, seemingly content to play stepmom to Jack’s two kids, though the relationship means sacrificing some of her dreams, like marriage and kids of her own.

When Wendy brings up complicated feelings about a friend’s pregnancy announcement, and the desire to buy a sailboat, something clarifies for Jack. He insists they take a break for the summer — Wendy should date around, find someone more suited to her. She protests, but acquiesces. What neither Wendy or Jack expect is for her past to walk into a bar one night.

It's emotionally seismic, captured in a slow zoom in on Wendy’s shocked face. Fanning’s acting here is incredibly subtle but gut-wrenching, and it’s one of the most suspenseful moments in cinema this year. And somehow, Swanberg was able to cast an actor whose appeal manages to rival that of the affable Johnson, whose Jack is a one-man charm offensive.

As Wendy’s ex Chuck, Cory Michael Smith lands like a nuclear bomb as the third corner of the triangle, a spoiler that Jack never saw coming when he made this bet. Chuck offers Wendy what Jack can’t, or won’t — he’s outdoorsy, adventurous and finally ready to commit. But Jack, who is witty, kind and sociable, fills the gaps where Chuck is lacking. Chuck is enthusiastic but unreliable; he has bad credit. Jack is stable but needy. Wendy ping-pongs between the two until we’re ready to beg Swanberg to release her from this cycle.

“The Sun Never Sets” is a study in jealousy, but it’s also a study in radical honesty. Perhaps that’s inspired by his own life, or perhaps the film is a chance for Swanberg (who wrote, directed, edited, produced and has a small part in the film) to see how these sticky situations might play out when people just say what’s on their mind. Wendy and Jack don’t mind confessing their love to each other, or confessing that they’ve slept with other people. They act out of petulant insecurity, as well as deep care for each other. Their forthrightness is often problematic but always refreshing. Usually the problem in a relationship film is due to lying — these two don’t lie, but the problems persist nevertheless.

Swanberg fills the world with believable characters, including Debby Ryan as Wendy’s long-suffering but loyal friend, and Karley Sciortino as a perfectly nice woman for Jack to date. There is a grounded authenticity to the connections between each character, even if certain elements of the world he builds strain credulity. Fanning and Smith are movie-star gorgeous playing blue-collar Alaskans; they wear the Carhartt well, but Wendy’s job as a backhoe operator feels entirely implausible (we can buy Chuck as a seaplane pilot though). And no offense to Anchorage, but Swanberg has imagined a remarkably tiny world of sexy singles in the dating scene of this Pacific Northwest city.

The film is signature Swanberg, but it’s also operating at another level of nuance and sophistication. The location shooting in Alaska offers a sense of grandeur and unreality (the sun truly never sets), and the soundtrack is excellent. It’s all in support of this trio of strong performances. Fanning is utterly relatable as Wendy, neither victim nor saint, as flawed and fumbling as everyone. If the characters happen to fall into stereotype or cliché, it feels like when real people do.

Somehow, Swanberg winds his way through the relationship upsets and outbursts to find the perfect ending for “The Sun Never Sets,” a rare thing for the love triangle movie — it always feels like a binary choice, when there could be some secret third option. Perhaps it’s because he lets his characters embrace their honesty that they do, eventually, find their way home.

———

'THE SUN NEVER SETS'

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language including some sexual references)

Running time: 1:42

How to watch: In theaters nationwide Sept. 4

———

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC