This was painfully real to watch... there's no romanticizing the illness, and no happily ever after, just an honest and compassionate look at the life of a daughter trying to re-connect with her schizophrenic father. If someone in your family has a severe mental illness, you will see pieces of your own life in this.
The movie takes you on a journey, from Delaney's initial nervousness about seeing her father again, to the uncomfortable scene where he's listing all the things she never invited him to and she's almost cringing with guilt, to moving on and showing the good times: dinner together at a restaurant, chess with his grandson... but, like life for most families of people with mental illness, you can never trust that a change for the better will be permanent.
(Spoilers follow) Shortly after Delaney is reassured by how long her father has been taking his medication, and starts to trust that he will stay on it and things will stay good in their lives, she starts getting phone calls. In a powerful montage of clips of her listening to different phone calls, we watch her father slip from relative good health back into full-blown psychosis, leading to the eventual tragic ending. The look of helplessness, frustration, and guilt on her face grows with each phone call.
Anyone who has lived with a mentally ill family member will recognize the sadness, frustration, and guilt that Delaney experiences... but the movie doesn't beat you over the head with it, it's just an honest look at life, good times and bad times, with a mentally ill relative.
Watch this movie. If you have an ill relative, it can be incredibly cathartic to see that you are not the only one going through this. And if you don't have an ill relative, you will see why it is so vitally important to fund public mental health services, and the tragic impact of not having help available to those who need it most.
The movie's official website posts information about where it is showing, including links to a PBS website where it can be watched online.
The movie takes you on a journey, from Delaney's initial nervousness about seeing her father again, to the uncomfortable scene where he's listing all the things she never invited him to and she's almost cringing with guilt, to moving on and showing the good times: dinner together at a restaurant, chess with his grandson... but, like life for most families of people with mental illness, you can never trust that a change for the better will be permanent.
(Spoilers follow) Shortly after Delaney is reassured by how long her father has been taking his medication, and starts to trust that he will stay on it and things will stay good in their lives, she starts getting phone calls. In a powerful montage of clips of her listening to different phone calls, we watch her father slip from relative good health back into full-blown psychosis, leading to the eventual tragic ending. The look of helplessness, frustration, and guilt on her face grows with each phone call.
Anyone who has lived with a mentally ill family member will recognize the sadness, frustration, and guilt that Delaney experiences... but the movie doesn't beat you over the head with it, it's just an honest look at life, good times and bad times, with a mentally ill relative.
Watch this movie. If you have an ill relative, it can be incredibly cathartic to see that you are not the only one going through this. And if you don't have an ill relative, you will see why it is so vitally important to fund public mental health services, and the tragic impact of not having help available to those who need it most.
The movie's official website posts information about where it is showing, including links to a PBS website where it can be watched online.
