Emily Railsback’s sophomore feature opens on a painfully familiar scene. Elsie, a university lecturer, is talking desperately to a series of blacked-out ‘off-camera’ avatars. In the background, her wife Bette soothes their crying baby. Excited to get back to work, Bette soon finds out that her job at a theatre has just been eliminated and so is dependent on Elsie’s academic income. This raises age-old philosophical questions: how much should one compromise for another in the name of the family? And how does one keep that elusive ‘spark’ alive in the midst of global and personal crises? Directed with intimacy by Railsback, American Parent will have you laughing out loud then holding your breath – all in the same minute.

-Rhianna Ilube, BFI Flare London

Festivals:

• BFI Flare London, Hearts Section (2023)