Poster

Only in the movie version of Astoria can you begin a beer-filled day at Buoy at 5 a.m. and end it at Fort George at 2 a.m.

That was the marathon shooting schedule of “For When You Get Lost” in May 2022, when the independent movie production pulled off the highway in Astoria — for a special, oasis-like stopover in this road-trip dramedy.

For When You Get Lost — available via Apple, Amazon and Vudu — follows sisters June and Cami on a Highway 101 odyssey from Los Angeles to Whidbey Island, Washington, to see their dying father.

They’re also undertaking an unofficial brewery tour along the way, and the siblings land in Astoria just as the movie hits a fever pitch. June and Cami’s frayed bond turns ecstatically sisterly as they swagger out of their Atomic Motel room in vintage fur coats, wolf down some Goon Dogz and Cami chugs a beer at Buoy after half-heartedly attempting the “Truffle Shuffle.”

“I had to say something about The Goonies,” said Jennifer Sorenson, who both wrote For When You Get Lost and plays June. “It’s synonymous with Astoria.”

To Buoy Beer Co. marketing manager Jessyka Dart-Mclean’s knowledge, this marked the first time a film production shot inside Buoy’s original space. Unfortunately, it was also the last, as filming occurred just weeks before the location’s restaurant collapsed into the Columbia River.

“We were actually pretty excited to see the movie and get a glimpse of what (the space) used to be,” said Dart-Mclean, who acts as a brewery extra in the scene. “We have memories of it and pictures of it, but it was neat to see it, you know, alive again.”

A little more movie magic is at play in that Buoy scene, as the pre-dawn glow of the river pretends to be afternoon. Plus, Elizabeth Alderfer’s down-in-one was actually a pint of nonalcoholic beer provided by the production, though a Buoy stout does get its close-up coming out of the tap in front of the sisters.

Using nonalcoholic substitutes was the wise choice for a movie with this much bartop conversation, Sorenson said, as the sips add up take after take.

“Elizabeth actually doesn’t drink,” Sorensen said of her co-star. “Even if she did, we would not ask her to (chug) a beer at 5 in the morning.”

From there, the sisters head out on the town in a montage that includes Cami dragging June away from Keepsake Tattoo to prevent some beer-fueled impulse ink, and their night ends harmoniously in Fort George Brewery’s taproom.

“It’s fun how much they actually showed of Astoria,” said Dart-Mclean, whose daughters, Harper and Alice, also appear in the film, gleefully pointing out the Astoria Riverwalk sea lions to the two tourists and imitating their barks.

Dart-Mclean said her daughters were particularly excited to see themselves on the big screen when For When You Get Lost made its roadshow stop at The Columbian Theater last September. “It was just a very fun project for us to be involved in,” she said.

As a movie experience, For When You Get Lost depends on a balance of tones. Its drama comes from the two sisters’ difficult family history and the question of whether reconciliation with their now-ailing father is truly possible.

Its comedy, though, stems primarily from June, whose natural inclination toward chaos is perhaps best exemplified by the six empty water bottles often seen floating around her Prius’ brake pedal.

“She’s got the best intentions, but the worst execution,” Sorenson described her character.

But June is also a lovable beer snob, which leads to the movie’s explicit comparisons to “Sideways” (2004). Each Highway 101 brewery — from Moylan’s in Novato, California, to Yachats Brewing on the southern coast — affords June a new chance to flirt with locals and announce her takes on craft beer.

Just as Sideways takes its shots at merlot, For When You Get Lost digs a bit at what Sorenson sees as a glut of IPAs on the market.

The film also has some fun at the expense of the word “drinkable” in beer marketing, which Dart-Mclean confirms is a funny cliche in her industry.

“If it wasn’t drinkable, why would you be drinking it?” Dart-Mclean asked. (Would a restaurant ever describe its light lunch options as “edible”?)

But there are reasons beyond Astoria’s regionally iconic breweries that the town occupies a cut-loose role in the film. On the 2013 road trip that inspired the film, Sorenson said she knew, just as these characters do underneath, that Astoria is the final waypoint before the harder realities of their Washington destination truly set in.

“It was a beautiful gift in writing this movie that I already had that structure,” Sorenson said.

Yet another reason why the Astoria interlude feels like a party in For When You Get Lost? When the production started filming at Buoy that morning in May 2022, they didn’t have enough money to finish the film.

Sorenson and company drank their (nonalcoholic) beers and began roaming downtown not knowing if the movie’s last 40 minutes would ever be shot. Ultimately, the joyful attitude of the montage owes more than a little to a phone call that afternoon that the full financing finally came through.

That existential stress is typical of independent film productions, Sorensen says, and the antidote is audience support.

“The only way that we can see movies that aren’t just fighting and explosions is if we support them and talk about them. I want to see more movies with real, authentic conversations, with crying and laughing at the same time.”

‘For When You Get Lost’

‘For When You Get Lost’

Available Friday from Apple, Amazon and Vudu

@forwhenyougetlost

www.forwhenyougetlost.com