The Grand Illusion

Filmed over an expanse of 25 years, two brothers go on a 2,000-mile road trip to solve a family mystery. Shooting on nearly every camera format imaginable, from hand-developed Super-8 film to Arri 4K, Sam Harkness and his older half-brother Reed use their creative world of fiction filmmaking to dive headfirst into dealing with the issue at hand: Sam’s mom is missing. But solving the mystery of Sam’s mom’s disappearance is only the beginning of their story.

The brothers spontaneously hit the road in search of answers. Through their journey of discovery, we learn of Sam’s mother Jois’ complicated adoption history from Japan. We experience the ripple effects on the Harkness family, including Sam’s brother Jared, father Randy, and grandma Doris. And we are there with Sam coming of age from 11 to 36. The optimistic teenage Sam we get to know, with his heart set on finding his mom, grows into a man whose new hope is to break the cycle of generational trauma.

• The 7:30 PM showing on Saturday, 4/29 will be followed by a Q&A with director Reed Harkness, along with guest speakers Liliana Lengua, Angela Tucker, and Jess Lewis.
• The 3:15 PM showing on Sunday, 4/30 will be followed by a Q&A with director Reed Harkness.
• The 7:30 PM showing on Sunday, 4/30 will be followed by a Q&A with director Reed Harkness and subject of the film, Sam Harkness, along with guest speaker Julia Bledsoe, MD.

CRITIC’S PICK! “Sensitive and surprising… a film whose emotional reality seems to evolve before your eyes… Observantly edited, the movie mingles the perspectives of many family members without casting judgment, developing an aching poignancy that recalls recent family dramas like Aftersun and Return to Seoul… a mature reckoning with love, hurt, independence, and hard-won wisdom.” Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times

“FOUR STARS. This is one of the year’s best films.” Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com