First-time directors Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers take a biting look at the Millennial Generation, using a Superbad format with an HBO’s Girls aesthetic: two friends are on the verge of splitting apart, and the hope of one last adventure together brings out their deep-seated issues. In this case, Harper (Bridey Elliott) and Allie (Clare McNulty) spend most of the film trying to get to the titular beach. Fort Tilden features Brooklyn in all its hipster glory, though acknowledges the many sides of the borough. While the film is harshly critical of its two main characters, the comedy is a smart and convincing look at meandering in your mid-twenties.

At a concert on a Brooklyn rooftop, best friends and roommates Harper and Allie meet Russ (Jeffrey Scaperrotta) and Sam (Griffin Newman), who are headed to the beach the next day. Harper is immediately interested, but Allie has a meeting to prepare for her trip to the Peace Corps. After dropping out of Teach for America, she’s headed to Liberia, which everyone is quick to tell her is a dangerous place. Allie takes a shine to Russ, and decides to blow off her meeting. Harper, an artist living off her father’s money, has zero qualms about playing hooky.

The next day immediately doesn’t go according to plan. Allie calls her Peace Corps advisor as soon as she wakes to explain she’s too sick to meet up. Her mentor is none too pleased and tells Allie to be near a computer so they can communicate throughout the day. Harper is up late and takes her time getting ready, much to Allie’s chagrin. They also don’t have much money, and so they decide to take bikes. Harper, though, doesn’t own one. They are forced to borrow one from a neighbor, and it’s hours before they’re off.

They leave the safety of their gorgeous Brooklyn apartment and Williamsburg neighborhood and instantaneously find it almost impossible to get to their destination. Harper makes an unnecessarily long pit stop at Prospect Park to see her on-and-off-again boyfriend for some ecstasy. The girls are distracted by a discount clothing store, and Allie’s bike gets stolen. The combination of dilly dallying and genuine issues forces Allie and Harper to spend way too much time together. They are both insecure in different ways, and the idea that Allie might actually leave Harper causes the duo to face the nature of their friendship and also their lives separately.

Fort Tilden is filled with vignettes in which the film consistently criticizes their extended adolescence. When Allie accidentally hits a baby stroller while biking and then pedals away from the incident, someone on the street yells how the Millennial Generation is screwed. It’s hard not to agree while watching these two young women fail at the simplest task. They whine about being broke while buying new clothes. They selfishly abandoned the borrowed bike because it’s too inconvenient for them to deal with, prompting Harper to admonish Allie, “Think about yourself first and other people second.” It’s an all-encompassing idea for these two self-centered characters.

Despite the bleak outlook, the film is touchingly realistic in its approach. Allie sits in her apartment watching a YouTube clip on how to pump a bicycle tire. She and Harper text each other while in the same room. These moments create a sense of mundane reality.

Harper and Allie can be horrible in one moment but garner sympathy in the next. Allie’s gung-ho approach to Liberia slowly fades as she wonders if she’s making the right choice or just the cool one. Harper is constantly enabled by her wealthy father to do as little as possible, when what she really wants is purpose in her life. While the plot may feel like well-worn territory and the message a bit severe, Elliott and McNulty’s excellent performances make this film worth considering.