By Omeleto
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John is driving by himself up into the mountains. He’s seeking answers to some of the questions that have haunted him — the questions he intends to ask the man who abandoned him at birth, a reclusive mountain dweller named Isaac.
Isaac isn’t happy to see John, but he accepts his presence anyway. The two men share a meal, both making stilted conversation with one another. But finally, Isaac tells his side of the story, which allows John to express some of his deepest held feelings — and perhaps allow a tenuous connection between the two estranged men.
Written and directed by Justin Etheredge, who also takes on the role of son John in the film, this short family drama possesses a striking simplicity in form and execution. Its remarkable willingness to be quiet and simply exist captures the fragile yet compelling dynamic between a father and son who don’t know one another at all and yet are connected by emotions of hurt, regret and pain.
With its warmly pristine cinematography capturing the serene and beautiful mountain setting and the self-sufficiency of Isaac’s cabin, viewers experience the profound beauty of Isaac’s life. But as the film unravels, we and John also see its emptiness and isolation.
Though the writing is sparse on dialogue and the pacing is slower and more deliberate, the emotional arc begins to shift as John starts to understand who his father is. It both captures John’s patience and empathy, but underneath it is a growing undercurrent of pain and confusion. It’s as if John, and the audience, wonder why his father chose this remoteness and isolation over a life with his child.
That question grows more pointed as time passes, and Etheredge’s performance does excellent work in portraying John’s balancing act. He’s patient and accepting of his dad’s reticent nature and seems happy simply to spend time with him. Actor Dan Lauria as Isaac plays the role of an emotionally constipated man confronting a lifetime of regrets and sadnesses, and his taciturn nature reveals its shadows and weight slowly but masterfully. When John lets loose his true feelings of hurt and pain and Isaac finally reveals his full story, the storytelling fills in the silences — of both the film and these characters’ lives — that have haunted them for years.
“Reeling Isaac” is a father-son story, but it’s also about estrangement and facing up to the fallout of major life decisions. Though the film, like its titular character, has few words, it is eloquent as a study in frozen grief and the consequences of avoiding it. As this parent and child discover, this immobilized grief never fades away, but perhaps gains even more fear and trepidation over time. But when space is cleared with honesty and a willingness to listen, it allows room for more acceptance, and even love, to finally grow.
Transcript provided by YouTube:
00:20
i’m not there yet babe are you okay
00:28
nervous very nervous right now all right
02:16
i was looking for the owner of this
02:20
you know where i can find him
03:04
fish juice on my damn floor throw it in
03:16
don’t mind him he’s probably just
03:18
curious don’t see many black people up
03:23
does he see anybody up here ever from
03:39
you want a beer it’s 11 in the morning
03:43
did i ask you what time it was or did i
03:46
you if you want to be here yeah sure
04:07
it’s cause he’s a lover cause he’s a
06:17
i have to make a phone call
06:20
yeah i think i could use your phone mine
06:23
doesn’t have any wi-fi or reception out
06:26
sure you can use it as much as you want
06:28
the only thing is i don’t have one
06:31
you don’t have a phone no need for one
06:37
but if you have an emergency that’s what
06:47
you need to call your girl don’t you
06:51
i had the same worried look on my face
06:55
well we’re not dating we’re actually
07:01
congrats i hope you’re prepared for more
07:05
of the worried sweats then
07:12
how long did you and my mother date
07:15
five months not very long
07:20
i knew the moment i saw her
07:26
what about when you saw me
07:37
i remember the smile on your mother’s
07:47
about 20 minutes down that road there’s
07:51
they got a phone you could use
08:00
you need anything while i’m there nope
08:26
i know it all right talk to you soon
08:38
you gotta get that bottle right there
08:41
perfect thank you here we go
08:52
well women are always half a step ahead
08:56
you’re catherine she sounds a lot like
08:58
your mom she always used to have my back
09:06
well you better call it a day this road
09:15
i was actually hoping maybe i could stay
09:59
i told you he liked you come on lighters
10:02
aren’t going gonna be there all day
10:48
not too many lakes in the city
10:51
uh grandpa never took you camping that
10:56
yeah well neither did you they never
11:01
you know we were close when your mother
11:03
was alive but after she passed away
11:06
they got angry the grandpa especially
11:11
he was reeling with anger and he blamed
11:14
she was their only child i was a much
11:16
older man i promise take care of her
11:19
look after their precious daughter
11:40
they knew i loved her and they knew she
11:46
what about me i’ve asked myself that
11:55
so what happened because i i know what
12:00
you know i know their interpretation of
12:01
everything but i want to know what you
12:05
or what happened to you you know because
12:07
you don’t just leave your kid like that
12:10
you don’t do that unless you have a
12:22
then one day she got a headache he was
12:24
on a plane on the way back from europe
12:27
now i i i just thought it was the travel
12:32
two months later we were in new york
12:38
she was dying a brain tumor
12:44
we just had you her family didn’t want
12:51
i just broke down and withdrew from the
12:59
that katherine you love her
13:03
i do because when you devote your life
13:07
it well i’m only doing the marriage
13:10
thing once so this is it for me
13:13
well i never would have left your mother
13:16
she was 15 years younger than me
13:22
wiser than anyone i’ve ever met
13:26
you know what dawned on me she was a
13:27
writer i was a talker we we would have
13:31
yeah she was she was a good person
13:41
now you said that my mother left you and
13:44
i don’t know i i wonder what that has to
13:46
do with me you know because
13:48
she left me too we both did
13:52
look we did what we thought was best for
13:57
now i knew i couldn’t live in the city
14:01
and i knew this this would be my life
14:03
from there on out i don’t i don’t want
14:05
to hear any of that man that’s
14:10
it’s not an excuse well i knew i wasn’t
14:13
prepared to take care of her child
14:18
but you don’t you have no idea what that
14:22
well what do you want me to say
14:25
i want you to say that you abandoned me
14:30
i want you to say that you regret
14:33
every day of not being in my life i want
14:35
you to say that you care about me
14:38
i want you to say that you’re proud of
14:47
i want you to say that you’re sorry
14:54
because you don’t know what to say to me
14:58
and there’s a lot of things in my life
15:00
you should have been there for
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video
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