There’s a scene early in “Take Me Home” when Bob (Victor Slezak) is overwhelmed by the choice of bread in a supermarket aisle, a mountain of sourdough loaves of various brands made to feel as if they’re staring right back at him with judgment as opposed to him being the one to choose which one to pull off the shelf. It ends up being easier for his daughter Anna (Anna Sargent) to make up her mind – her cognitive disabilities actually becoming an asset in this moment when she’s impetuous and instinctive – while Bob is paralyzed by indecision, which touches on his own increasing cognitive issues as it looks like he might be in the early stages of dementia, but together they can leave the store with what they came for, which is no small feat, much as it might seem to most.
Throughout Liz Sargent’s heartrending debut, built off the back of her 2023 short of the same name and based on her own experience of caring for Anna, her sister in real life, the basic routines of everyday life can be appreciated for how daunting they might be when the body or mind fail you as well as the grace that the people around to lend their support to prevent catastrophe. You learn early that Bob and his wife Joan (Marceline Hugot) volunteered for such a position, adopting Anna and her older sister Emily (Ali Ahn) without any consideration of how difficult Anna might be to raise and while Emily left to make a life for herself in New York City some time ago, the two continue to deal with the same issues with Anna they likely contended with when they first opened their home to her a couple decades earlier, trying to give her a shower when she hates bathing and preventing her from putting sweets into the cart when shopping when that’s all she wants to eat. They’ve made it this far, but as aging retirees in Florida, it is clear they may no longer be up to the challenge of caring for Anna, even when she’s approaching her forties and a tragedy pushes Emily to return, far more uneasy about caring for her sister than her parents have been.
From the unsentimental dialogue that feels authentic to the family dynamics of people who long ago stopped walking on eggshells about the hand they’ve been dealt to cinematographer Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi’s delicate camerawork touched with just the right amount of vibrant colors, the film carries just the right amount of edge to never come across as saccharine despite how sensitively it tackles the situation at hand. More impressively, it feels like the work of a filmmaker rather than simply someone putting their experience on screen, as Anna delivers a truly nuanced performance as a version of herself adjusting to the responsibilities of being relied upon rather than relying on others and the director shows a real gift for managing the film’s gentle and often playful tone, never veering towards melodrama. Where some personal touch may be welcomed into the frame is in Anna and Emily’s relationship where it is clear the director had no hesitation to showing how combative the relationship between siblings can get and with Ahn, the salty scene-stealer from “The Diplomat” sharing the frame with Anna, there is a real frisson in the scenes between sisters where there’s plenty of tough love.
The film may reach a most unexpected conclusion that won’t be spoiled here, but the most impressive part of what may seem out of character from what came before actually grows out a challenge Sargent issues from the very start to see what’s considered normal and familiar in a different light and by its end, that incandescent perspective becomes one you want to stay inside.
“Take Me Home” will screen again at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27th at 1:10 pm at the Megaplex Redstone, January 28th at 6:30 pm at the Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake City, January 30th at 4:40 pm at the Megaplex Redstone and February 1st at 9:30 am at the Holiday Village Cinemas.