A Languorous, 87-Minute Movie Worth Watching

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Despite their achievements, anthology films can sometimes leave viewers feeling drained after watching them. Each film requires complete engagement, and moving from one story to another becomes like traveling through various means of transport – cars, trains, boats, planes – without a break. By the end, one just wishes it was all over. However, it’s amazing to stumble upon Sierra Falconer‘s Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), which premiered at Sundance and offers us four tender narratives that collectively create a peaceful daydream. Bathed in the relaxing ambiance of its title location, the film is leisurely yet brief. You might find yourself pondering over it for days.

In the opening episode titled “Sunfish,” I, as a movie enthusiast, found myself immersed in the world of 14-year-old Lu (Maren Heary), left with her grandparents while her newly-wed mom jets off. Lu’s adventures unfold as she explores the nearby waters on a tiny sailboat, discovering a lost loonlet along the way. With the help of her birdwatching grandparents, they nurse the baby bird back to health. As night falls, I hear the melancholic tones of Lu’s voicemails left for her mom. One day, she encounters the mother loon and scolds it for leaving its offspring behind. The director skillfully keeps a distance with the camera, allowing only faint snippets of their conversation to reach our ears. She allows this moment to pass subtly, letting us absorb the poignancy and familiarity of Lu’s reaction. Aspiring filmmakers, take heed: This is the art of direction.

Each tale in the collection Green Lake shares a common thread of intertwining relationships and personal growth. In “Summer Camp,” timid teenage violinist Jun (Jim Kaplan) is left at Interlochen Center for the Arts by his overbearing mother, where he practices relentlessly until he bleeds, only to find friendship complicated as fellow students compete for positions in the camp orchestra. In “Two Hearted,” a harried single mom and waitress (Karsen Liotta) offers a dying local man (Dominic Bogart) a ride to catch a legendary catfish in Green Lake‘s waters, while in “Resident Bird,” two sisters who run a cozy bed-and–breakfast help their father prepare for the arrival of a screenwriter and his family. The eldest, Robin (Emily Hall), is on the verge of leaving for culinary school, leaving the younger sister, Blue Jay (Tenley Kellogg), unsure about her future without her sibling.

Essentially, these tales seem more like cherished memories, with the film’s occasional interruptions giving everything a hazy, half-remembered feel. Apart from the slight exaggeration in “Two Hearted,” there aren‘t any major, mind-blowing moments in these episodes. However, they offer glimpses into moments these people will remember for the rest of their lives. The real revelation comes from the collection as a whole, the growing sense that life is all about change and nothing ever truly resolves itself. It’s this very quality that makes this anthology so compelling, and leaves us pondering long after it ends. Each story hovers on the brink of transformation, yet we can‘t quite predict what lies ahead for these characters. Despite this uncertainty, over the course of just 87 minutes, we grow attached to them and hope they find happiness.

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2025-01-26 04:53