Understand and forgive The story of two close people who, as it turned out, were never particularly close. After the death of the mother, the children's roads diverged. Scotty Olson, trying to escape from the past and find himself, rushes to the city, while sister Kate stays with her father together in a small house by the lake. Unable to recover from the grief, the head of the family gradually goes mad, plunging his daughter into the horror of despair. Scotty gets a job in the reality show “Young stallions”, but beautiful girls, drinking and popularity do not give him the long-awaited solace. He has never been more responsible and caring than his sister. Their paths may never have crossed, if not for the sudden death of his father, which forces Scotty after a long absence to return to the dilapidated house near the water, and at the same time radically reconsider all his views.
Matthew Morrison (well known in his homeland as a TV presenter) well conveyed the image of his hero - his isolation and despair, which literally through even during a reality show, a difficult relationship with his father. In my opinion, the rebirth to which his hero long and painfully went, happened too unnaturally. Who knows, maybe one thing can change all of our beliefs? The character of Sarah Chock (Kate) as a whole looked convincing, at the same time in some long scenes, it was evident that it was difficult for her to play - the same type of image created by her affected. The conflict between the brother and sister turned out, but there was no love between them. Laura Bell Bundy successfully embodied on the screen the image of a typical blonde Kelly, who rushed between men and two worlds, and in the end got according to her character.
In the film, many details are symbolic: things scattered around the house during the funeral and chaos in the souls of our heroes, a sad smile during the most romantic moments of filming, a father’s scarf found on the beach and the feeling of his constant presence, boxes in the water by the bridge and the realization of father’s forgiveness.
Unhurried narrative, drawn-out everyday scenes filled with deep semantic content, make “After the reality show” a kind of film-reflection. Even pauses in the conversations of the characters, views of nature and sunset over the lake have their own special content. The director combines scenes of glamorous life in a reality show with the quiet pool of Kate’s life, creating a kind of pressure effect. Two worlds seem to echo here: a show filled with rivalry and cynicism, where any means are good; and a real house by the lake, where sincere thoughts and feelings are splashed, where people are not afraid of each other and are ready to give a shoulder and help in time. This is the psychological skill of David Anderson.
In cases where the author of the script, director and producer is one person, the fate of the film is formed from the very beginning of the idea. David Anderson went exactly this way - he wrote the script himself, shot the film at his own expense, feeling more relaxed in terms of expressing the idea. This author's film with elements of art house, which will be useful to watch first of all for those who feel lost on the path of life. Interestingly, the co-producers of the film were the main actors involved in it.
What I don’t understand is that the filmmakers are positioning it not just as a drama, but as a comedy. At the same time, nothing even close to this genre in the film is not traced. Of course, the director threw a real challenge to reality TV, ridiculing all their playfulness and cynicism, but this is done not by comics, but by parallels.
Throughout 2016, the film was widely presented at various film festivals: on April 21, it opened the Newport Beach Film Festival, became the official selection of the jury of the Twin Cities and Stony Brook Film Festivals. Filming took place on the Iron Range resort of Nelson on Lake Crane near the border with Canada, as well as in Virginia, Minnesota. Virginia was just extraordinary in terms of the possibility of nature to shoot. The city presented a huge amount of scenery for him, Todd-Jones said. “It’s an honor to be back in Minnesota, in particular, to thank the people who helped us make this film.” “The warmth we got from working and communicating was incredible, and I think that was reflected in the film itself,” said director David Anderson. I knew I wanted to shoot in northern Minnesota because of its beauty. It is all the more symbolic that in this state, by the way, native to Anderson, “After the reality show” closed on June 5 Duluth Superior Film Festival.
7 out of 10