Next of Kin

I had never heard of Atom Egoyan, a Canadian-Armenian director, when I bought a box set of his films from the UK because they were on sale and sounded cool. It has been sitting on my shelf for at least a year. The other night, I cracked it open, put "Next of Kin" on and was blown away. "Next of Kin" is an astonishing first feature length film, both in script (which Egoyan wrote) and direction.

It is a story of a rich young man trying to find purpose in life, much like "The Graduate" and "Harold and Maude". He is 23, lived at home his whole life, and amused himself by "watching my parents dislike each other." They take him to therapy, he plays with them psychologically, but then by chance discovers an Armenian family who lost a son and proceeds to contact them and pretend to be their long lost boy.

It is wacky, it is funny, it is weird, it is thought provoking. It is an insightful look at culture and family and our willingness to accept anything when in psychological need. There is some plot structure and cinematography that is amazing. A remarkable first film that is almost unknown. Delighted to have it my collection. I can't wait to see the rest of the films in the set.