One day before dawn Tom (Academy Award® nominee John Hawkes) crams his three kids into a dented station wagon for a 3,000 mile journey from New England to California. Tom tells enchanting stories, paints pictures of a California paradise, and assures the kids that Mom will soon join them. 12-year-old Greta believes him at first, mesmerized by the strange new scenery. Older sister Caroline seems more focused on the boyfriend she’s leaving behind. 9-year-old Nat, too young to know any better, is eager to see the epic Grand Canyon. But Tom’s mood shifts as often as the landscape outside their window, and the kids soon find themselves in increasingly unpleasant and even dangerous situations. Meanwhile, Mom’s presence seems to recede further with every mile.

ARCADIA, which won the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival demonstrates "Ms. Silver's ability to...catch those moments between innocence and knowing, childhood and adulthood, unforgiving and forgiving." (The New York Times)

DIRECTED BY OLIVIA SILVER
UNITED STATES | 2012 | ENGLISH