The first of Joel Haver's planned 12 feature films in one year, The Hero's Journey aka My Life aka the Caleb Johnston Story (I'm Caleb), highlights the all too relevant plight of young people left behind by a meaningless society. While Caleb (Haver) appeared to find some semblance of purpose in his teenage years through his friendship with his best friend Kevin (Trent Lenkarski) and girlfriend Stacey (Elizabeth Boudreau), they grew up while he stayed the same. After they break up, Caleb lives in his car and lays his soul bare in a mockumentary highlighting the woes of 21st-century alienation.
Caleb is a highly relatable protagonist with goals and ambitions but lacks the direction to enact them meaningfully, highlighted as he blows his merger funds on online poker. There's sorrow and heartache at the center of this story, but it also showcases the importance of a strong network of family and friends who can step in when things get too rough. The Hero's Journey was a poignant story filled with enough humor to keep things engaging, but most of all, it solidified Haver as a filmmaker capable of highlighting the struggles of aimless millennials.
