I was completely unprepared for the depth and scope of this story of a family in deep crisis. Two brothers have gone through dramatic changes over the last twenty years and are about to crash head on into one another. What I think is at the heart of this story is a rather common family dynamic: Sometimes, as children and for reasons unknown, we fixate on our siblings, or worse, on a particular sibling. We spend our entire lives measuring everything about ourselves against the object of our sibling rivalry, always coming up short. Regardless of the fact that after we leave home we will compete with an entire world full of strangers - for jobs, marriages, friends, homes, schools, grades, a line at the grocery store, you name it - every step of the way all we think about is how what we're doing, and who we are, will compare with that sibling. Thus is the story of Kimberly Reed and her brother Marc.
This story begins with Kimberly Reed returning to her hometown of Helena, Montana for a high school reunion. Twenty years earlier she was Paul McKerrow, the handsome popular quarter back. Kimberly Reed, now a striking, engaging, and confident woman, is accompanied by a film crew. She thinks she is going to make a documentary about all the shocked faces she will have to confront at the reunion. Quite suddenly, however, the documentary takes on a bizarre detour. Enter her adopted, older (by eleven months), brother Marc. He was troubled as a child and became even more so as he grew into his teens. He is now, and always has been, fixated on his younger "golden boy" brother Paul - now Kimberly.
The story that started as Kimberly's (Paul's) high school reunion swerves into the unpredictable madness and volatility that is Marc. Marc sustained a traumatic head injury right after high school. A large portion of his frontal lobe needed to be removed in order to reduce seizures brought about from scarring from the injury. This has left him a bit slow, and a bit dangerous. His childhood grievances have now taken on frightening proportions. The family scenes that unfold before the camera are unexpected, shocking, and raw, and will jolt you from your seat. What began as a flouncy little film that might have been programed next to "Project Runway" on Bravo, turns into a searing and heartbreaking family drama. Not the kind of "family drama" we are use to seeing now that comes off of a conveyor belt of contrivance though. This is real.
Kimberly Reed is to be commended for being nimble enough in her film making to pivot to the larger story as it unexpectedly unfolded. Her story of transgenderism, (please forgive me if I'm using the wrong conjugation) becomes secondary to the story of her family's struggles to cope with a poorly adjusted brain damaged son/brother. Marc's sister, brother, and Mother, struggle to help him. But, understandably, their love is guarded with a healthy amount of self protection.
The story that unfolds during Kimberly's high school reunion documentary is one of a family pushed to the breaking point as they deal with a loved one who has become, to put it lightly, unmanageable. Marc has become dangerous and unpredictable and everyone is walking on eggshells around him. Only when an outsider intervenes, who's perceptions are not distorted by familial love, or guilt, or whatever it is that renders a relative's judgment dulled to the harsh truth about their loved one, and calls 911, does the story begin down a path that is irreversible and painfully necessary.
Spoiler here: adopted Marc turns out to be the biological grandson of genius Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. This detours the movie to Croatia, where Marc meets his "Stepgrandmother". Other revelations flow from this reunion and none of them, as sensational as they might be (you couldn't write this stuff and be believed) comes close to being the climax of this story.
The data points of this story are mind boggling; transgendered daughter (also a lesbian), brain damaged son seething with sibling rivalry, gay son, high school reunion, etc... None of this would amount to a good documentary unless it was in capable hands. This film is. It never hits one false note. It is compelling, poignant, and at times disturbing. But it is above all, and at all times, genuine. And it is presented with unflinching personal honesty.
Reed uses the vast landscapes of Montana to establish a tone of beauty and tranquility to stand in contrast to the internal turmoil she grew up with, and the external turmoil about to unfold. The landscapes are so magnificent you want to get up in the middle of the movie and relocate there. And Reed handles the shocking events of this story with deftness and compassion. I can't express enough admiration for the work she has done here. For the record, though I don't think it matters, I am a male and very happy in my male body. I went to see this movie to perhaps understand something foreign to myself. I got some of that. Mostly I was just blown away by the film, and left the theater thinking that Kimberly Reed is a talented film maker and a truly decent person. If you are looking for a film about transgenderism, this may not be for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a powerful documentary that will move you, see Prodigal Sons. It is brilliant. One can only hope that this is the first of many good films by Kimberly Reed. I HIGHLY recommend this touching, alarming, and like all real family dramas, unresolved, story about the McKerrow family. 10 out of 10!!!
This story begins with Kimberly Reed returning to her hometown of Helena, Montana for a high school reunion. Twenty years earlier she was Paul McKerrow, the handsome popular quarter back. Kimberly Reed, now a striking, engaging, and confident woman, is accompanied by a film crew. She thinks she is going to make a documentary about all the shocked faces she will have to confront at the reunion. Quite suddenly, however, the documentary takes on a bizarre detour. Enter her adopted, older (by eleven months), brother Marc. He was troubled as a child and became even more so as he grew into his teens. He is now, and always has been, fixated on his younger "golden boy" brother Paul - now Kimberly.
The story that started as Kimberly's (Paul's) high school reunion swerves into the unpredictable madness and volatility that is Marc. Marc sustained a traumatic head injury right after high school. A large portion of his frontal lobe needed to be removed in order to reduce seizures brought about from scarring from the injury. This has left him a bit slow, and a bit dangerous. His childhood grievances have now taken on frightening proportions. The family scenes that unfold before the camera are unexpected, shocking, and raw, and will jolt you from your seat. What began as a flouncy little film that might have been programed next to "Project Runway" on Bravo, turns into a searing and heartbreaking family drama. Not the kind of "family drama" we are use to seeing now that comes off of a conveyor belt of contrivance though. This is real.
Kimberly Reed is to be commended for being nimble enough in her film making to pivot to the larger story as it unexpectedly unfolded. Her story of transgenderism, (please forgive me if I'm using the wrong conjugation) becomes secondary to the story of her family's struggles to cope with a poorly adjusted brain damaged son/brother. Marc's sister, brother, and Mother, struggle to help him. But, understandably, their love is guarded with a healthy amount of self protection.
The story that unfolds during Kimberly's high school reunion documentary is one of a family pushed to the breaking point as they deal with a loved one who has become, to put it lightly, unmanageable. Marc has become dangerous and unpredictable and everyone is walking on eggshells around him. Only when an outsider intervenes, who's perceptions are not distorted by familial love, or guilt, or whatever it is that renders a relative's judgment dulled to the harsh truth about their loved one, and calls 911, does the story begin down a path that is irreversible and painfully necessary.
Spoiler here: adopted Marc turns out to be the biological grandson of genius Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. This detours the movie to Croatia, where Marc meets his "Stepgrandmother". Other revelations flow from this reunion and none of them, as sensational as they might be (you couldn't write this stuff and be believed) comes close to being the climax of this story.
The data points of this story are mind boggling; transgendered daughter (also a lesbian), brain damaged son seething with sibling rivalry, gay son, high school reunion, etc... None of this would amount to a good documentary unless it was in capable hands. This film is. It never hits one false note. It is compelling, poignant, and at times disturbing. But it is above all, and at all times, genuine. And it is presented with unflinching personal honesty.
Reed uses the vast landscapes of Montana to establish a tone of beauty and tranquility to stand in contrast to the internal turmoil she grew up with, and the external turmoil about to unfold. The landscapes are so magnificent you want to get up in the middle of the movie and relocate there. And Reed handles the shocking events of this story with deftness and compassion. I can't express enough admiration for the work she has done here. For the record, though I don't think it matters, I am a male and very happy in my male body. I went to see this movie to perhaps understand something foreign to myself. I got some of that. Mostly I was just blown away by the film, and left the theater thinking that Kimberly Reed is a talented film maker and a truly decent person. If you are looking for a film about transgenderism, this may not be for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a powerful documentary that will move you, see Prodigal Sons. It is brilliant. One can only hope that this is the first of many good films by Kimberly Reed. I HIGHLY recommend this touching, alarming, and like all real family dramas, unresolved, story about the McKerrow family. 10 out of 10!!!