Doc Corner: You Must See 'Sam Now'

By Glenn Charlie Dunks

Reed Harkness’s Sam Now is really something special. A debut that taps into an achingly sad story within his own family, covering decades of pain and the smiles used to cover it up. I could not take my eyes off of it, reverberating as it does with a potent mix of tragedy and the relief that comes with finally getting it off your shoulders. In finally telling this story so many years in the making, Harkness has given us a documentary that taps into completely unexpected wells of emotion—a Boyhood (of sorts) where life’s dramatic turns offer us a portrait of male anguish that would be hard to watch if it weren’t so vibrantly made and open-hearted in its delivery.

Synopses describe Sam Now as a “mystery”, but that does it a disservice. There is a mystery, of course. But it’s solved pretty quickly. And what follows is a quiet reckoning that is more compelling than any true crime narrative could ever hope to achieve.

At age 11, Sam’s mother Jois (pronounced “Joyce”) vanished. Even in the immediate aftermath, she didn’t appear to have been the victim of foul play. Nobody suspected anything untoward. No, she just appeared to have gotten up one day and left. Weirdly, nobody seems to let it affect them too outwardly. Everybody, including Randy, Jois’s husband and Sam’s father, is eager to ignore it as much as possible no matter what they are feeling underneath. At this time, her stepson, Reed, who was older was using Sam as the star of his many Super-8 movies that were, as is pretty common in these situations, homemade horror and action. One popular character is a superhero in a wetsuit called The Blue Panther. When Reed suggests that The Blue Panther should want to find his own mother, so too does Sam.

While the film's power doesn't rest of the element of surprise, considering I watched it without any knowledge of where it was going, I suppose I should recommend you try and do the same.

At age 17, Sam finds Jois. Relatively easily, actually. From there, however, Sam’s story becomes increasingly unravelled. From a child to his life as a 36-year-old man, Reed capture’s Sam’s story in beautiful honesty. He is frank with his brother’s camera, allowing us to see him in moments of contemplation, struggle and hurt as he wrestles with the realities of his childhood abandonment and the affect that has had on him throughout his life in a variety of ways. Sam and Jois are fascinating subjects (as are many of the extended family), which is Harkness’s good directorial luck. The more we find out about each of Sam and Jois, however, the more engrossing it becomes. Their story is like some sort of painful duet; two people whose sorrow seem desperately intertwined, growing like some classic tragedy with each new development that hits like a punch to the gut.

Like the filmmaker himself, Sam Now begins with exuberant abandon, throwing at us style and frenetic editing with an eagerness to show the audience his directorial talents. Harkness’ youthful experimentations look an absolute riot and I hope a physical release of the movie in the future will include them. Sammy Fabelman could never! But as he ages out of camera tricks and superhero shenanigans, and as Sam’s grows from a child to a man, the filmmaking matures as well. Harkness with his editors Darren Lund and Jason Reid take more time with the emotional beats, eventually giving us moments of quiet introspection that nevertheless say so much.

I was floored by Sam Now. It mines emotions that are too rarely seen on screen, told with honesty and empathy. What does such a familial work of storytelling mean for future films by the director? I couldn’t tell you. I’ll be excited to see them, though. If Sam Now is but a purging of the anguish Harkness has felt for his brother across 25 years and he goes on to make the sort of action-packed splatterfests of his early works, then that’s okay. Because this documentary exists to tell one unique story. What could have been a wrecking ball ends as something altogether different. Cycles of pain keep spinning and us viewers are just lucky that it landed on this moment in time as a beautiful work of cinema.

Release: Currently screening limited in LA and NY with other cities to follow. It will also have its broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens this May.

Award chances: Not typically what this branch would go for, but as in something like Minding the Gap they have responded to stories of youthful discretion told with such skill. I hope it factors in.

Comments

[Julian]

Thank you SO MUCH for making this recommendation. I was able to rearrange my festival schedule to fit it in and I am so happy I did. I cannot find fault with this film in any way. So good.