With/In: Every Moment Has a Story movie review

MOVIE TITLE: With/In: Every Moment Has a Story

This entertaining and insightful collection of short stories will be available on VOD and DVD on March 15, 2022.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 3 hours 15 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

With/In is an anthology of films created in the homes of award-winning filmmakers and actors. A few of the creators include Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Rosie Perez, Rebecca Hall, Sanaa Lathan, Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, and Chris Cooper. Each family created their own story armed with an iPhone and a basic filmmaking kit that traveled across the country from family to family throughout the pandemic.

The idea for this project was conceived to harness creativity, find beauty in the mundane, and capture the varied experiences of isolation. With/In was produced by Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, Peter Sobiloff, and Michael Sobiloff, and Executive Produced by Nic Marshall and Jenny Halper. The project was creatively overseen by writer Margaret Nagle (The Good Lie) and Academy Award®-winning editor Tariq Anwar (The King’s Speech). Styler reflected on the experience as being “a wonderful diversion and way for people to funnel their creativity.”

Four of the shorts were originally screened at The Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 but this is the first time the full anthology of thirteen films will be widely available.

CEO & Managing Director of Vision Films, Lise Romanoff shares, “With/In addresses some universal issues we all have to face in our relationships with others and within ourselves. The personal, diverse, and powerful short films, shared by some of the biggest names in film and television, provide audiences a unique window into how individuals cope with change, and how resilient the human spirit really is.”

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast includes talented actors and actresses including Academy Award nominees and winners and fan favorites like Don Cheadle, Rosie Perez, Julianne Moore, Chris Cooper, Rebecca Hall, Sanaa Lathan, Lucy Punch, Alessandro Nivola, Debra Winger, and more!
The directors of this collection of short stories include Sanaa Lathan, Rosie Perez, Morgan Spector, Maya Singer, Bart Freundlich, Griffin Dunne, Mickey Sumer, Sam Nivola, Arliss Howard, Chris Cooper, and more!
This is one of those films where you’ll have to take a few days to watch it all unless you have time to binge-watch the 3+ hours in one sitting
I loved the creativity of all of these directors. It’s fascinating to see the quarantine from so many different perspectives.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some people may not be interested in watching stories about the pandemic since they’ve already been living it, but I can tell you it’s super interesting to see what all of these directors have chosen to illustrate in their films given the topic of the quarantine.
Most of the films focus on the negative or sad aspects of quarantine. Some families actually grew closer during their forced time together.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be completely bored
Profanity, including F-bombs
Lots of alcohol
A woman smokes a joint
You have to read texts
Crude images
Unmarried people sleep together & other intimate conversations and behaviors
You partially see a naked man through a shower
Cleavage

THEMES:

Pandemic life
Fear
Anxiety
Marriage
Friendship
Acceptance
Love
Loneliness
Black Lives Matter
Touch
Creativity

FUNNY LINES:

* “How is liquor stores are essential services?” – Julianne Moore

INTERESTING LINES:

“People live in fear. They have these prejudices that even they don’t understand.” – Sanaa Lathan
“Yeah, I said a lot of things. The question is do I really believe it?” (Justina Machado)
“Well, hmmm…civilization…that was nice.” – Maya Singer
“Not setting an alarm clock is the world’s greatest gift.” – Carla Gugino