RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This review contains spoilers of Peak Everything.
The groundbreaking rom com Peak Everything is the perfect combination of genuine laughs, climate change anxiety, and a captivating romance.
Have you ever been overwhelmed by hopeless environment headlines or climate change predictions? With scientists sounding the alarm on unforeseen global warming levels and the risk of extreme weather conditions, constantly worrying about the future has become a reality for many.
Three out of four Canadians have reportedly had their mental health impacted by climate change, according to a study by Unite for Change released in 2023.
In Peak Everything, Quebec-based resident Adam (played by Patrick Hivon) is one of these Canadians. Living a seemingly tranquil life, running his own dog kennel and hanging out with his father and his best friend, Frank, the man secretly deals with an overwhelming anxiety related to climate change, which leaves him awake at night, thinking about the tragic future of the planet.
The film, directed by Canadian Anne Émond, begins with Adam receiving a package, which is later revealed to be a therapeutic lamp, meant to help him calm his anxiety. After trying the product without much success, the man calls what he believes to be a help line number that came with the package, only to find out it is actually a technical support service. However, he quickly connects with the support agent Tina (Piper Perabo), who opens her ears to hear him vent and appears to understand him. The call ends as Adam hears a strong storm at the other end of the line, weakening the signal.
Although the scene happens over the phone and the audience can only hear Tina’s voice, it is clear right away that there is chemistry between the two characters. The dialogue is also a clever and interesting way to reveal Adam’s internal thoughts, especially related to his anxiety. Since Adam is Quebec-based, the man primarily speaks French, but the film switches more to English in some scenes, especially those involving Tina.
Right off the bat, the audience also learns that Adam appears to have an innocent and socially-awkward personality, which leads to many comical moments throughout the film, but also makes the character extremely likeable.
The next day, Adam has an appointment with a psychiatrist, where he goes off non-stop about scientists’ warnings, climate change and an imminent environmental apocalypse, even revealing that he sometimes thinks there is no point in staying alive. One of the concepts explained by Adam is “peak everything,” an idea that there will be a point in time when all of Earth’s natural resources necessary for human life, such as food and water, will all have reached their capacity. The appointment ends with Adam being prescribed medication for anxiety, depression and insomnia.
As Adam prepares to use his therapeutic lamp again, he bumps into the device, which falls and breaks, leaving him extremely frustrated. Moments later, he receives a follow-up call from Tina, who quickly tells him they can send him a new device for free. As the two once more hit it off over the phone, Tina reveals that she is married.
Shortly after that, Adam receives a new lamp, with a snowflake drawing that he believes to be a secret message from Tina. He quickly calls the lamp company again, but instead of his crush, a male coworker picks up the phone, and reluctantly calls Tina to the phone. As the call is still in progress, we hear loud noises and screams through the phone, before the line fails.
Worried about Tina’s safety, Adam steals his father’s car and crosses the provincial border to Ontario, where the company is located, and finds out there was a strong earthquake that drove Tina and other co-workers to a local community centre. After just the right amount of tension build-up, Adam and Tina meet face-to-face for the first time.
As the area is evacuated due to increased earthquake risk, Adam drives Tina and her co-worker away from the region into the house of the co-worker’s uncle, an older man who doesn’t believe in climate change, vaccines, or that the Earth is round. After the police invade the house and mistakenly arrest Adam for drug dealing, the couple flees the scene together, taking to Adam’s house back in Quebec.
There, the couple connects even further, as Tina meets Adam’s friends, takes care of the dogs with him, and the two even meditate together.
The film constantly alternates between its regular scenes and meditation scenes, where the audience appears to be immersed in Adam’s mind, as he listens to guided-meditation tapes. I found that these scenes not only added to the movie’s incredible artistic production, as it offered a chance for me to step into Adam’s shoes and really understand the power of meditation.
At night, as Tina prepares to sleep, Adam takes over her bed, and after a minutes-long build-up of sexual tension and heavy breathing, he casually leaves the room. This moment took a loud round of laughs from the audience, and again reinforced the man’s strange personality.
The next day, Adam drops Tina off at her house and ends up having dinner with her husband and two daughters, where he opens up about his hopelessness about the future, quickly brushing it off to avoid scarring the children. But following the meal, Adam finds one of the daughters self-harming at night, and tries to console her. However, Tina soon finds them and gets angry at Adam.
“You are too strange for us. You are too sad,” she says, as she sends him away.
After some time away, a very strong storm hits, taking down trees, damaging Adam’s house and leaving him extremely scared. As he is hiding in the kennel and trying to calm his dogs down, the man tries to meditate, but all that appears in his internal realm are tragic images of melting glaciers and destructive wildfires.
Soon, Tina appears in her car with her daughters and Adam’s dog, rescuing him from the storm. The two of them finally kiss, and drive away together. The movie ends with the couple having sex in an open grass field, as they escaped from the storm.
As the credits roll, instead of a closing song, the audience hears a guided-meditation tape, which I thought was a brilliant touch that was also useful in slowing down the audiences’ nerves after diving into climate anxiety throughout the film.
As someone who has definitely lost sleep thinking about the future of the planet, it was great to see climate anxiety being addressed in a way that doesn’t leave the viewer feeling heavy or down after leaving the theatre. I also feel the rom com really delivered, making the audience fall in love with these complex characters and really root for their success.
Overall, I found the film to be the perfect 2025 rom com. Although it addresses complex and serious issues in today’s world, including climate change, anxiety and depression, the movie was extremely light-hearted. Whether you are a climate advocate or just looking for some laughs, this Canadian gem is definitely worth the watch.
