tom1138

It has been said before that parenting is inventing your own way of doing as you go along. And this loving documentary echoes that. But it goes far beyond that, and is showing some very open and vulnerable well known and unknown dads talk about their experiences and coping with challenges. Will Smith's allegory of the gardener spoke to me most, as a bit of wisdom that I could agree with and aim for.

A promising anthology, consisting of four shorts. Short stories have to be about the idea, but when the execution delays not only the twist, but also the idea, to a reveal at the end, then it could become a problem. Action works so much better than drama to get the story going, as the viewer needs a reason to care about the characters, fast. Segments Seed (2016) and IN/FINITE (2017) fall for that trap, by showing drama with people we're not invested in yet. Phoenix 9 (2014) is the best of the stories, with less drama and more action, and a dilemma ending. The last segment, Redux (2015), is too short even for a short. Like someone shredded half the script - So many unanswered plot points prevent to make this a memorable story. Even famous face Eric Roberts can't save that. The sci-fi is light for the most part. The A.I. from the title wasn't the connecting element though, and plays no central role, so I found that to be a little misleading.

Anna lives with her family in a new housing estate just outside the city. She has been with her husband Sebastiaan for years and they don't talk so much anymore. While on a working visit abroad, a female colleague commits suicide. Anna is deeply impressed by her death, even though she hardly knew her. Nobody seems to know why she took her own life. For the first time Anna realizes that one can be an unknown among your most dearest. Anna doesn't mention the incident back home and starts observing her husband and child. Guernsey is the story of a woman who suddenly starts looking at her own life. And she wonders how she got so drifted apart from the people closest to her.

(This is my translation of the DVD cover text synopsis. I hope you find it useful, as this movie doesn't have an IMDb Plot Summary yet at this date.)