Arcadia

Arcadia—that's the name of the Californian paradise that Tom (John Hawkes) paints in the most colorful terms for his three children—12-year-old Greta (Ryan Simpkins), young Nat (Ty Simpkins), and Caroline, the eldest (Kendall Toole). Half the household is packed into the battered station wagon, and the nearly 3,000-mile road trip across the US begins. Shabby motels, fast-food restaurants, and impressive sights like the Grand Canyon are all part of the journey. What's missing is their mother. She'll be joining them soon to share in the sunny life in Arcadia — or so Tom promises. But with every kilometer, the children's uncertainty grows. Slowly, Greta begins to realize that the family is threatening to fall apart... A gentle yet intensely staged road movie, Olivia Silver's film is particularly compelling thanks to its calm, atmospheric imagery and credible family constellation. The reality of everyday life is gently interwoven with the quiet cracks of a family falling apart, while the camera repeatedly captures small moments between childhood and adulthood. "Ms. Silver’s ability to translate the liminal into cinematic terms, to catch those moments between innocence and knowing, childhood and adulthood, unforgiving and forgiving, makes her someone to watch." (Manohla Dargis, in: The New York Times) A film far removed from major events, but with many quiet nuances—it has won all kinds of festival awards, such as the Glass Bear, the main prize in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale.