Movie Review
bricolage

Throughout, there is a credible chemistry
as they travel to her home near the coast,
and a measured melodrama, by which the film
suggests that for all its foregone conclusions
this time we have the advantage of hindsight: 

We can observe, firsthand, events from years ago:
the interpreter who saved more than one life;
the season of remarkable flight; the application
of glitter; the humbled prodigal returning —
all parts of a self, invisibly coming together.

This debut, based on real life experience,
presents a small, but encompassing portrait
by virtue of the larger theme in this quiet,
unflinching story: it is not magic —
but how life felt in a certain time and place.

To an extent, it’s also about ever exploring
the same life — now seeing your father’s courage
fully, your own slowness to learn — and it will
barely matter if you can’t easily discern all
that is happening at first. Now in theaters.

First published in Homage (Ebb Tide Editions, 2024)
This poem combines fragments from conversations, my notes, and phrases from reviews mentioned in this article in The Washington Post.
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