In The Family

Patrick Wang's In The Family is, in my mind, the most complete film I have ever seen. The film takes place in a small Tennessee town, and centers around Wang as Joey, a contractor, who lives with his partner Cody (Trevor St. John) and Cody's biological son, Chip (Sebastian Banes). When Cody is killed in an accident, an outdated will is brought to light that leaves legal guardianship of the young Chip in the hands of Cody's sister, Eileen (Kelly McAndrew) and her husband Dave (Peter Hermann). Joey spends the majority of the film trying to get Chip, whom he considers his own son, back, fighting Eileen and Dave, who, previously were hospitable to him, but are now cutting him completely out of the boys life.

The amazing thing about In The Family, is that it hits on a lot of issues that the Homosexual community is facing right now, including hospital visitation rights, property rights, benefits, etc., and does so in a way that doesn't beat it over your head or poke you in the side and go - "See! See!". It simply tells a story and gets you to empathize with the character of Joey, who is a really stand up guy and who loves Chip the way a man who made a choice to take on the mantle of being this child's father would.

I encourage people to watch this. I really do. It's probably one of the best independent movies I've seen in a long time, and I really think it is life affirming. When we move past fear and hate, and into love, we can do so much more in this world.