Trash Mountain review – Caleb Hearon’s coming home indie is a funny if familiar journey

Toronto film festival : a city-dwelling gay guy has to go home to rural Missouri after his father dies in this Sundance-by-numbers comedy drama that has its moments It might be premiering at Toronto 2026 but we’re very much back at Sundance in the late 2000s/early 2010s with Trash Mountain, an indie-by-numbers not without its charms.

It’s the story of a city-living twentysomething who has to travel back to his rural hometown after the death of his father and contains a lot of what that logline would suggest. Awkwardly bumping into an old schoolmate in the dollar store – check. Brief romance with a charming local – check. Wacky grandmother played by an esteemed character actor – check. Scene of a stuffy local shocked at lead character’s bracing humour – check. Scene of a wise local giving lead character salient and miraculously well-timed advice – check. It’s not as if these elements haven’t worked well before and it’s not as if some of them don’t work well here (especially when compared to a recent…