There There

Andrew Bujalski’s latest experiment is an episodic film tinged with humor and some darkness; in it, characters and situations string together in a game of theme and variations. But this isn’t its only peculiarity. Made during the pandemic, in There There material restrictions become a formal and narrative challenge—how do we make a film about bonds when neither the actors nor the characters are able to share the frame? But, as in every good cinematic experiment, here form and sense establish a dialogue—exploring what is born from the tension between intimacy and distance, between the difficulty to meet and the attempt to circumvent the vacuum, Bujalski gives a new dimension to the shot/reverse angle setup and reminds us, while he’s at it, why he is one of the most interesting contemporary indie filmmakers in the US.