I was drawn to this film because of its title suggesting a family business, and the intriguing synopsis of two brothers making an annual trek to find their long-lost father.
This was made at an extremely low budget of roughly $1,000 and it oozes a sense of warmth and intimacy that few films can match, especially in an era where frantic pacing and gratuitous drama seems to rule the roost.
McManus and Sons is a character study of vastly different siblings living in a world of emptiness and confusion, trying to find closure by participating in this tradition which both regard with some level of futility. Even knowing this, it creates a bond between the two of them which was missing since their father disappeared.
Watching this movie is like playing a virtual reality game about an old family camping trip. There's a ton of reminiscing about the characters' childhoods and the psychology behind their father and other adult figures in their lives. More importantly, there's no forced action or comedy to distract from the core emotional bonding experience on this, the reported last year of their father search.
In a cinematic universe where it seems bombast and excess are rampant, small quiet films like this are a welcome respite, treading the line between documentary-like realism and coming-of-age drama.
