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A brief scene in the middle of the film encapsulates Anderson’s theme: Mr. and Mrs. Bishop lie in their twin beds awake. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” McDormand says, and Murray responds, “Why?” “We’re all they have,” she continues, referring to their children. “It’s not enough,” is the answer. Love is fleeting, human relationships invariably disappoint, and children have only a short time before they learn the aching truth. At this point in the film we know that Mrs. Bishop has been having an affair with the wistful police chief (Bruce Willis), and Suzy knows it too.

Once the kids disappear, all the adults swing into action of sorts, following them through the woods, calling out helicopters, and so on. The two are found, run away again, and mishaps and misunderstandings abound. Tilda Swinton has a brief, funny turn as a child-services worker called Social Services. Wearing a get up reminiscent of an antique Salvation Army uniform, she’s the personification of the mean governess in a Victorian children’s story rather than a social worker.

Anderson’s style has always seemed far too precious to me, constantly drawing attention to itself at the expense of his story. That’s true in “Moonrise Kingdom” too, although some of the actors are skillful enough to find the humanity in their characters and pull some real feeling through the thick shell of artifice. Norton, Willis, and McDormand manage to create complex characters against the odds, but the young actors who play Suzy and Sam (Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman) don’t have the experience to do so. As a result, Suzy and Sam are as obnoxious as Anderson’s youngsters usually are, and as fake. But that may be the point—they believe in their love only because they’re too young and inexperienced to know better.