Movies with Meaning, by Brent Marchant, TGMN Movie Correspondent

What Accounts for Our Greatness?

 

There are many ways we can live our lives, but the one quality that most of us strive for is to find out what makes that existence – and, consequently, us – great. It’s not an easy question to answer, and we often spend considerable time trying to figure it out. We frequently encounter many fits and starts, and, no matter what “progress” we might like to think we’re making, we’re still often plagued by doubt and second-guessing, sending us around in a relentless cycle of circles. So how do we ultimately arrive at a definitively fulfilling answer to this question? That’s what a dying middle-aged woman hopes to discover for herself in the captivating and thoughtful new sci-fi comedy-drama, “Omni Loop” (web site, trailer).

Zoya Lowe (Mary-Louise Parker) doesn’t have long to live. The accomplished, Miami-based fifty-something physicist and science writer, ironically, has been diagnosed with the inexplicable presence of a black hole in her chest that’s getting progressively larger, threatening to consume her in short order. Of course, as a scientist, she’s well aware of the implications and inevitable outcome of this. But this conclusion is based on more than just her knowledge of physics; it’s also based on personal experience, given that she’s been down this path countless times before. Zoya, it seems, is trapped in a temporal loop that endlessly repeats itself, lasting a week each time and then recurring at the same exact starting point, playing out the same way as each previous iteration. And she’s the only one who appears to know about this.

Zoya’s recognition of this phenomenon stems from the fact that there are certain events that tip her off as to when she’s about to conclude a cycle, such as a characteristic nosebleed that signals she’s nearing the end of the “current” week. That’s her cue to take a special pill that forestalls death and enables the cycle to repeat. She’s not sure what those mysterious pills are, having found them when she was a youngster (Riley Fincher-Foster). And she never seems to run out of them, either; they somehow manage to replicate themselves so that she has a never-ending supply. Beyond that, there are two other facts that she knows about them: (1) they’re the key to implementing the start of a new weekly cycle and (2) they’re part of some grand plan to help her discover and attain her personal greatness, an insight enigmatically imparted to her at the time she found them in her youth.

As noted previously, Zoya is the only one who’s aware of what’s happening. Even if she tries hinting to others what’s occurred, or even outright tells them about what she’s been experiencing, her comments leave no lasting impression on them, given that each cycle starts over anew every time and plays out exactly the same way, with no recorded memory on their part of what happened previously. For example, her husband and writing partner, Donald (Carlos Jacott), and her adult daughter, Jayne (Hannah Pearl Utt), have no clue about what’s transpiring, even if Zoya makes observations about events as they faithfully repeat themselves each time around, statements that Donald and Jayne dismissively chalk up to cryptic, easily ignored remarks that may be a side effect of her declining condition.

Meanwhile, Zoya grows ever more dissatisfied with her circumstances. She feels trapped in some kind of temporal purgatory. Indeed, what’s to be gained by constantly reliving the same events over and over again, especially with the eventual outcome already known in advance? This cycle won’t even let her die from the allegedly fatal condition that’s supposedly consuming her, preventing her from escaping this seemingly pointless exercise in rote existential repetition. She thus can’t even move on to explore the new form of existence that death is supposed to afford us.

What’s more, what does this endless cycle of unchanging recurrence have to do with achieving the greatness promised to her when she made her discovery of the mysterious pills years earlier? How does reliving the same events of this particular week’s time accomplish that? It feels more like personal stagnation than personal growth and brings Zoya no closer to the answers she seeks for herself – or to her alleged destiny.

However, that all changes one day when an unexpected development occurs that begins taking Zoya in a new direction. While visiting her aging mother (Fern Katz) at a nursing home, she engages one of the facility’s residents (Jennifer Bassey) in a rhetorical conversation about the futility of an existence driven by stalemate. Zoya’s frustration over her unceasing circumstances comes pouring out, so much so that it prompts a change in her behavior – and a subsequent shift in the timeline that has been playing out without alteration for as long as she can remember. Her resolve for change is so palpable that it initiates a new series of events, beginning with a seemingly chance meeting with Paula (Ayo Edebiri), a student of theoretical physics who works as a lab assistant at a local community college. Considering Zoya’s educational background in physics, she and Paula discuss their mutual interest in the subject, which, in turn, gives Zoya an idea – maybe they can draw upon their shared scientific knowledge and aptitude to help her find a way out of her tediously unrelenting circumstances – namely, solving the mystery of time travel to enable her to go back in time more than just one week.

Thus begins Zoya’s exploration for a solution to escape her temporal loop. Of course, it’s a time-consuming process that takes several “weeks,” each one characterized by having to start over somewhat each time, given that the knowledge gained from previous cycles is lost to everyone except Zoya from iteration to iteration. The work involved in this includes an array of experiments with Paula, as well as a series of exchanges with a former professor and mentor (Harris Yulin). But, somewhat surprisingly, this process also prompts some profound and unexpected soul-searching, including recollections of a former peer and old flame (Eddie Cahill), Donald’s younger self (Jacob Bond), and Zoya’s adoring and ever-encouraging father (Michael Laurino).

This experience gives Zoya pause to look back on her life, particularly how she spent her time. It pushes her to ask herself, “What exactly constitutes the greatness that I was supposed to achieve?” For example, did she reach the heights that she was supposed to attain as a physicist, or did she fall short of her potential? Did marrying and having a family unduly derail those plans, and were her roles as wife and mother as fulfilling as what she might have achieved had she pursued plans to become a renowned and accomplished scientist? Indeed, were Donald and Jayne “mistakes” in her life, or were her marriage and motherhood “achievements” on par with what she might have achieved scholastically and professionally?

Perhaps that journey of self-discovery is what Zoya’s temporal loop was meant to evoke. Maybe she had been putting it off for far too long, that it was something she was meant to explore before the clock ran out. Indeed, perhaps this personal odyssey was supposed to help her identify the greatness she was promised and that she was ultimately supposed to discover for herself. Sometimes we may need a little help to get pushed into these kinds of introspective pursuits, exercises that are important to understanding the nature of our being but that we may avoid engaging in for reasons that can only be revealed through processes like this. Whatever the purpose, however, we can only hope that we come out of them better off for having done so – something that Zoya, one would hope, is able to figure out for herself.

Of course, if Zoya wants answers to the many questions this experience has prompted, she needs to first look to herself, specifically the beliefs she holds about her world, her life, what constitutes personal greatness, and, most importantly, what she hopes to draw from all this. The reason behind that is the fact that our beliefs determine what results in our lives, what accounts for the manifestation of the reality we experience. It’s unclear if Zoya has ever heard of this way of thinking, though, given her knowledge of the principles of quantum physics, this school of thought should seem comparatively familiar and eminently understandable, something that she should be readily able to make use of in her quest for answers. The question, though, is will she do that?

Given that Zoya has been repeating the same cycle for so long, she would appear to be metaphorically and metaphysically stuck. She hasn’t given herself permission to employ her consciousness to get out of her predicament. Instead, she has allowed herself to languish in an unending, unchanging, essentially stagnant temporal loop. Perhaps she’s not ready to address the foregoing questions. Perhaps she’s preoccupied with simply doing whatever it takes to stay alive, even if that means sandwiching her existence into an endless cycle of repetition, a rather unsatisfying compromise from all appearances. Or perhaps she just doesn’t know what the answers to her dilemma should be and is afraid to find out.

No matter what the cause, however, she fortunately comes to the realization that she can’t keep going on as she has been. The frustration that has been building up inside her for so many cycles has finally pushed her into pursuing a different course, a development akin to a sort of belief catalyst to implement change. And, as evidenced by her unexpected encounter with Paula, that’s exactly what she’s finally manifested for herself, setting in motion a process aimed at getting her off the dime and onto a new path of discovery and revelation.

This scenario is one familiar to anyone who has ever felt existentially immobilized. When we reach a point where we can no longer tolerate the unrelenting sameness, something invariably happens to shake us out of our complacency. That seminal event may seem like something random, yet, unwittingly, we’re responsible for drawing it into our lives to get us moving again. It opens up our consciousness and nudges us in the direction of considering new and fresh ideas. And, based on how things have been going in Zoya’s life, that’s exactly what she needs.

This experience provides Zoya with an opportunity to consider all of the professional and personal issues discussed previously. It allows her to examine her aspirations as a scientist and how well she has (or hasn’t) fulfilled them. It enables her to look at the significance and relevance of her personal life, particularly in her roles as a wife and mother. It gives her a chance to explore the choices she has made in these areas. And it helps her examine that question about the nature of her personal greatness that has been gnawing away at her since her youth.

In addition, this experience allows Zoya to make preparations for what lies ahead. Since she’s no longer stuck in the same old repeating loop, she has an opportunity to explore plans for what she wants as she heads into the great unknown – a future in which she can reshape her destiny to something she wants for herself. It gives her a chance to tie up loose ends, and it enables her to pass on her legacy to others, such as Jayne, who is about to come into a new life of her own, and Paula, whose status as Zoya’s protégé is on its way into blossoming into something bigger and more significant. Those accomplishments, it would seem, are pretty great in themselves. In some ways, they might not seem especially meaningful at first glance, but, when one considers the impact they can carry going forward, they’re by no means insignificant or easily dismissed. They could readily be viewed as a destiny fulfilled, one with lasting impact and one that embodies the concept of being our best, truest selves for the betterment of our spirits and those whose lives we touch. Forward progress, it would seem, is its own greatness indeed.

Amassing and possessing profound philosophical, metaphysical and theoretical scientific knowledge can provide us with unique insights into the nature of existence and how reality comes into being, and aspiring to the attainment of that wisdom is undoubtedly a noble and worthwhile goal. But, in all truthfulness, what good is that knowledge if we lack the practical, plainspoken common sense to know what to do with it, particularly when it comes to shaping the destinies of our own lives? Does such a lofty objective truly lead to meaningful satisfaction and genuine fulfillment? Or is it somehow secondary in the greater scheme of things when compared to those accomplishments that give us real meaning? Those are the questions thoughtfully raised in writer-director Bernardo Britto’s fine sci-fi comedy-drama, a surprisingly profound offering that’s simultaneously entertaining and enlightening.

In the face of impending mortality, the film prompts us all to engage in meaningful introspection about such issues as have we made the most of our lives and what, in fact, constitutes the nature of corporeal fulfillment and personal greatness? In the process, the picture packs a great deal of genuinely thoughtful material into an intelligently conceived, smartly written, and at times poetic story that explores heady sci-fi topics from an intensely personal, extremely intimate standpoint, something rarely seen in films from this genre. It accomplishes this without relying on an abundance of glitzy special effects, too, instead employing some of the most effective film editing I’ve ever seen, presenting vivid imagery with dazzling, dramatic, rapid-fire precision to captivate audiences and hold viewer attention. It also features what’s arguably Parker’s best on-screen performance, revealing a dynamic range of emotions from joy to sadness to vulnerability not often seen in characters in narratives such as this. There’s a fair amount of well-placed comic relief as well, inspired by the narratives of films like “Groundhog Day” (1993) but without being an obvious copycat. Admittedly, the picture drags a bit at times in the second half (at least by comparison to the sustained frenetic pace of its opening act), but that’s more than made up for by the emotionally affecting closing sequence, one that’s sure to melt viewers’ hearts. “Omni Loop” is unlike most other science fiction offerings that most of us have probably seen, but it’s one well worth a look, especially for the lingering impressions it’s likely to leave on us and the soul-searching it’s designed to encourage, considerations we should all bear in mind when it comes to the lives we create for ourselves, undertakings that we should strive to handle skillfully, with a sense of joy and an aim for achieving the greatest degree of fulfillment attainable. The film is currently available for streaming online.

Like so many other films these days, this release encourages viewers to look within to discover themselves, particularly when we can see the number of days ahead of us start to shrink. In practices like this, there may be a temptation for us to focus on regrets and the things we got wrong. However, as this picture so aptly illustrates, it’s important for us to consider what we got right, the acts and accomplishments that made us great. And the conclusions we draw by engaging in such an exercise may end up surprising us, often in pleasantly unexpected ways. As we prepare to depart the earthly plane for whatever comes next, then, doesn’t it make sense to give ourselves a pat on the back or take a victory lap for those achievements for which we want to be remembered – or that we want to remember for ourselves as cherished memories embedded within our consciousness? It seems to me that this is something we don’t need to go around in circles about, that we can complete the loop we’re on and be ready to take the next step to whatever that upcoming grand adventure might be.

A complete review is available by clicking here.

Wrapping Up the Chicago International Film Festival 

The 60th annual edition of the Chicago International Film Festival is now in the books, having featured an array of narrative, documentary and short films in theaters across the city. The event featured a strong lineup of offerings this year, a big improvement over last year. In all, I managed to catch seven films during the festival’s two-week run. So, with that said, check out what I watched and what I thought at “Wrapping Up the 2024 Chicago Film Festival,” available by clicking here.

Exceeding Our Capabilities

 

There are times in our lives when nearly all of us exceed the limits of our capabilities (and often quite unexpectedly at that). But that can be a tremendous blessing, especially when we’re confronted by circumstances where such enhanced aptitudes are called for. When this happens, we might well surprise ourselves and those who know us, but such amazing revelations can produce miraculous results that benefit many in need. Such is the case in the delightful and insightful new animated feature, “The Wild Robot” (web site, trailer).

When a freighter loses a portion of its cargo during shipment, the items wash up on shore on a remote island. The sudden appearance of these mysterious goods, in turn, captures the attention of the island’s residents, an array of curious woodland animals who wonder what has suddenly materialized in their midst. They approach the cargo tentatively, quickly becoming stunned when they inadvertently manage to activate something in the debris. Amidst a flurry of flashing lights and whirring sounds, an enigmatic electronic anomaly begins springing to life. And, before long, an answer emerges in the awakening of a castaway robot.

As soon becomes apparent, the robot, nicknamed Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), begins functioning as she’s been programmed – as a domestic servant for her human owners. Roz appears to be well versed in a variety of tasks, but, as one who’s been designed to perform these functions for human masters, she’s confused about how to respond to these four-legged creatures, especially since they don’t appear to need any of her services. Meanwhile, the animals are just as clueless about the strange new metallic being in their presence, not always knowing how to react to her. Because of this impasse, Roz prepares to use her transponder to send a recovery signal to her manufacturer but is struck by lightning as she does so, thus leaving her stranded on the island.

An adjustment period follows as Roz and the island’s inhabitants attempt to figure out one another. It’s a bewildering, often-manic time as they seek to understand each other and to find ways to communicate. Overcoming this challenge, then, becomes the first of many that Roz must address – and the first one in which she gets practice at exceeding her limitations.

Slowly but surely, Roz and the animals are able to relate to each other and begin forging relationships. Roz establishes a particularly strong connection to a fox named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal), who ends up acting as an impromptu liaison between Roz and his peers, including Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), a mother possum, Paddler (voiced by Matt Barry), an industrious but sometimes-cantankerous beaver, and Thorn (voiced by Mark Hamill), a crusty but benign bear. But Roz’s closest connection arises with Brightbill (voiced by Boone Storm), a baby goose whose parents are killed, leaving the gosling orphaned. Roz feels responsible for their deaths and becomes a surrogate mother to the baby bird, an act that prompts her to go even further beyond her basic domestic programming.

Over time, Roz assumes new responsibilities to help Brightbill develop and mature. But, as the fledgling goose grows into an adult (voiced by Kit Connor), he must learn new skills, such as flying, an ability essential to partaking in his flock’s upcoming migration. Fortunately, by this time, Roz has learned how to seek out help from others when needed, turning for guidance to Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy), the elder statesman of Brightbill’s flock, and Thunderbolt (voiced by Ving Rhames), an adept falcon flight instructor, to teach the youngster how to get airborne.

As Brightbill embarks on his migration, Roz is satisfied that she has fulfilled her mission but is unsure what comes next in her life. She takes another stab at activating her transponder to send a retrieval signal, although to no avail. Meanwhile, with winter approaching, she helps the other animals on the island prepare for the impending inclement weather before shutting herself off for the season. Following Roz’s leads on matters of self-sufficiency and cooperation, the creatures, in turn, join forces to build a communal shelter in which they can all safely cohabit during the winter months. And it proves to be an effort that pays off, as Roz discovers when she awakens in spring to find all of her furry friends still alive and well.

Roz takes comfort at the quality of life she has helped to establish for herself and her peers, adapting as needed to the prevailing circumstances. It’s an existence she has come to embrace for the future, making a new life for herself where the prospects of doing so once seemed slim. However, much to her surprise, upon awakening, she learns that the retrieval signal she sent to her manufacturer indeed went through, with the company dispatching a recovery robot named Vontra (voiced by Stephanie Hsu) to collect the missing unit.

By this point, however, Roz has evolved to become more than just a programmed domestic servant. She’s now a sentient being all of her own and wishes to stay put with her friends in her new home. After all, it’s far preferable to being taken away from those she knows and cares about, especially since erasure of her memories on the island are to become part of the impending retrieval process.

Faced with this, Roz now stares down her biggest challenge to date. But how will she respond? Indeed, can she even respond? This will almost assuredly be another instance of having to rise to the occasion, to exceed the expectations of her capabilities. Previous experience has shown that she can do so, but will she be able to do so again? That depends, of course, on whether she believes she can. And that’s important to recognize in light of the role that our beliefs play in manifesting our reality. It’s unclear how many of us (let alone an artificial life form) are aware of this school of thought. But it’s imperative that any intelligence – be it natural or artificial – that hopes to attain such an outcome considers this way of thinking to materialize the results hoped for.

Like any of us, Roz has allowed herself to follow the programming given to her, a collection of beliefs with set limitations. However, when confronted with circumstances that require extraordinary solutions, she (and we) might find that those limited beliefs aren’t enough. It may be easy to just throw in the towel and give up at this point, but what good would admitting failure do? The challenge would still exist – unresolved – leaving us in the lurch. So it’s times like that when we can’t help but wonder that there must be another way to get past the issue at hand. And the key in that is looking to our beliefs, for they ultimately afford us limitless possibilities in devising potential solutions.

This scenario brings to mind the time-honored adage that “necessity truly is the mother of invention.” And the way to invoke that thinking is to tap into the wellspring of beliefs available to us in our consciousness. That’s clearly what Roz does here, and it’s an excellent example for us to follow in our own circumstances.

However, that might sound a little too easy for some of us, something that could be characterized as naïve wishful thinking. And, to a certain degree, that might well be correct. Simply mouthing the words for what we’re trying to create generally isn’t enough; it takes bona fide belief in the proposed notions, backed by faith and a clear vision of being able to conceive proposed manifestations to bring them into tangible existence. That takes a little more work than simple lip service, which is why some of us may want to give up on the idea when our hoped-for outcomes don’t spontaneously spring into being on demand. However, if we put in the “belief legwork” necessary to realize the envisioned result, we just might surprise ourselves at how adept we can be in making things happen. And that can be a tremendous boon when the needs are significant.

Again, look to the examples Roz sets in this film. What’s more, look at the inspiration she provides to others by doing so. Her influence clearly rubs off on them, and it has a tremendous impact on the ways that they approach life and make it more fulfilling. It’s an important life lesson, not only for the practitioner, but also for those she mentors. Imagine what a world we could create for ourselves if we all employed that thinking both for ourselves and those around us. We might quickly find ourselves living in a very different – and much better – existence. And who says cartoons can’t teach us anything?

Actually, calling “The Wild Robot” a cartoon shortchanges this work somewhat. Writer-director Chris Sanders’s latest is an animated fantasy that’s both stunning to look at and inspiring to learn from, more so than many other releases in this genre, qualities that set it apart from many of its peers. The picture’s focus on developing a sentience that goes beyond one’s basic conscious awareness is a lesson we can all draw from to enable us to survive when the ante of our lives is upped and our existence is on the line. This offering’s breathtaking animation is a sight to behold, resembling a series of gorgeous water colors strung together in succession. These visuals are suitably backed by solid writing and the delightfully amusing voiceover performances of Nyong’o, Pascal, Nighy, Hamill, O’Hara, Rhames and Hsu, all of whom disappear into their roles so effectively that it’s difficult to recognize them. Collectively, the ensemble delivers a fine mix of hearty laughs, inspiring insights and touching moments, all without becoming silly or saccharine. Admittedly, the film has a little trouble finding its footing at the outset, with some of its early sequences verging on being somewhat cloying at times. What’s more, a few story threads feel a little underdeveloped, such as subplots related to important but underexplained environmental themes, references that are alluded to without much meaningful elaboration. However, these modest shortcomings are more than made up for the further one gets into the story, growing progressively stronger as the narrative unfolds.

These assets aside, though, I must admit that it’s mystifying at times trying to figure out exactly who this offering was made for, as the material frequently comes across as more mature and more intense than what one might expect from an animated feature, one typically designed for younger viewers (despite the presence of its adorable, funny, furry forest creatures). Indeed, parents with small children may be somewhat disappointed if the picture fails to hold the attention of their young ones. Nevertheless, those who are a little older and more impressionable are likely to come away from this one inspired and uplifted. It’s truly gratifying to see a production that genuinely rises above the low bar that has been set for many animation releases these days. “The Wild Robot” is one of those films that’s sure to please a wide range of moviegoers, including those who generally aren’t particularly enamored with animation, a feel-good movie that doesn’t resort to wearing that trait on its sleeve but that nevertheless achieves an admirably heartwarming effect anyways. Because of that, the film has successfully developed tremendous staying power in theaters, having played there for quite some time now. Viewing this release in a big screen venue is arguably the best place to watch it to fully appreciate the beauty and grandeur of its animation. However, for those who prefer home viewing, the movie is also available for streaming online.

Being able to rise to the occasion when circumstances warrant is a skill that we all hope we’re capable of developing. It may not be easy at times, challenging us to think outside the box more than we may be typically accustomed. However, when we sit back and examine the results that can emerge under such circumstances, we can take pride in our accomplishments, especially those that provide us with solutions to particularly thorny situations. An expanded awareness of our consciousness and manifestation capabilities can thus provide us with valuable attributes that can serve us well in a wide array of applications. In these cases, we can truly become more than mere robots, beings who are able to be far more than we may have ever envisioned for ourselves. 

A complete review is available by clicking here.

A Loving Ode to Friendship

 

Friendship is one of those subjects that doesn’t receive nearly enough meaningful attention in the movies. Yet, when we look at its prevalence in life and the many forms it can take, it certainly provides plenty of fodder for engaging storytelling, given that it’s a topic we can all ultimately relate to – and in myriad ways at that. Films that explore unusual and fascinating expressions of this concept are among the most engaging, as seen in a new documentary that examines what it’s like for old friends to get to know one another all over again in a new context. Such is the case in the enlightening and entertaining road trip/buddy movie, “Will & Harper” (web site, trailer).

In 1995, an aspiring actor and comedian named Will Ferrell joined the cast of the late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. During the same week Ferrell started, the show hired comedy writer Andrew Steele to join its staff. In no time, Ferrell and Steele became one of SNL’s most dynamic duos. Recognizing his colleague’s talents, Steele wrote considerable material specifically for Ferrell, making him one of the show’s stand-out performers. This professional collaboration subsequently blossomed over the next seven seasons. And, in the process, Ferrell and Steele became good friends.

Ferrell’s success at SNL led to his departure from the show in 2002, launching into a prolific film career that has continued ever since. Meanwhile, Steele remained on the show’s writing staff, eventually becoming head writer, a role he filled for four of his 13 years with the series. But, despite the different paths Ferrell and Steele eventually took, they remained fast friends.

During all that time, however, Steele was harboring an all-consuming secret, one that he shared with no one. In 2020, though, with the onset of the COVID pandemic and the compulsory isolation that came with it, he saw this time of sequestration as an opportunity to explore what he had kept mum about for so many years, all in hopes that he might at last find peace, as well as a way to step forward about it. At that time, Steele entered counseling to consider the possibility of transitioning from being a man to becoming a woman. This was a subject he could never bring himself to open up about previously. However, now that he had the time and requisite seclusion to explore this bold new step, he decided to avail himself of the circumstances. And, in 2022, Andrew formally began the transition to become Harper, at last fulfilling a long-cherished but deeply secretive dream.

After launching into this endeavor, Harper realized that she needed to come out to others about her transition. And so, through lengthy, candid emails that she sent to Ferrell and other longtime friends and colleagues, Harper entered the world as her new self. However, given that Harper had never even hinted about her long-held secret (let alone openly discussed it), her announcement stunned those who knew her (or who thought they knew her). They wondered where this revelation was coming from, considering that she never said a word about it for all those years. So many of them naturally wondered, what would this news mean for the future of their friendships?

For Ferrell, Harper’s email was particularly stunning in light of the depth and tenure of their relationship. Given the closeness that had always existed between them, Ferrell naturally wanted to be as supportive as possible. After all, even though Harper was no longer Andrew, on a fundamental level, this change didn’t alter Ferrell’s profound feelings and admiration for his longtime friend. That consideration aside, though, there was no denying that some aspects of their relationship were nevertheless going to change. But in what ways?

At the same time, Harper also had some concerns of her own, both in terms of the impact on her established friendships and in terms of the new individual she was becoming. She naturally wondered if her old pals would look upon her and interact with her in the same ways as they had before – and, if they were going to be different going forward, how so? In addition, she wondered if she would still be able to engage in some of the same kinds of activities that she freely did when she was a man. Would she feel comfortable pursuing them? Would she, as a transgender woman, be accepted in those environments? Or could participating in those activities or venturing into those venues where she once felt completely at home now threaten her personal safety?

Will and Harper thus had many questions that they needed to answer for themselves, and they decided that the best way to address them would be to do this together. Their solution was to team up for a 16-day cross-country road trip from New York to Los Angeles. This would give them an opportunity to get reacquainted with one another, as well as a chance to get to know each other in this new context. It would be an experience that could help them see what hadn’t changed between them and what was new, both now and as they headed into the future.

With those hopes and intents in mind, the reunited dynamic duo set out on their odyssey across the US. Their journey began in the Big Apple, where they met for breakfast with Harper’s children, followed by a reunion with SNL colleagues Tina Fey, Tim Meadows and Lorne Michaels. From there, they headed south to the Nation’s Capital, followed by a big right turn to the Midwest, where they took in an NBA game in Indianapolis, paid a visit to a transgender advocate in Peoria and made a stop at Harper’s hometown in Iowa. Next came visits to Oklahoma and Texas, with decidedly (and somewhat surprisingly) mixed receptions to their presence. And, finally, from the Lone Star State, they headed west for Los Angeles, with stops at the Grand Canyon, where the travelers engaged in an impromptu and revealing conversation with a former therapist who counseled a prospective transgender patient, and at a remote, now-abandoned house in California that Andrew once owned where he could seclude himself and spend time living his life as a woman in the days before her transition as Harper.

As the film shows, the duo’s journey had its share of light-hearted, fun-filled moments, as if they were two old friends getting together and acting like a couple of goofy kids. It also has a number of emotion-filled sequences wherein Harper and Will allow themselves to show their vulnerability, either in terms of their relationship with one another or in growing comfortable in their own skin. Most importantly, though, the picture tellingly depicts the variable reactions that they received from others, some of them remarkably receptive, others troublingly disturbing. Consequently, this release tellingly illustrates both the progress that we as a nation have made in matters of transgender acceptance and the remaining ground that we have yet to make up. “Will & Harper” thus leaves us all with the question, “Where do we go from here?”

That’s essentially where Will and Harper started from when they launched into this experience. In many ways, it was an exploration of a great unknown but with someone who was seemingly eminently familiar, circumstances that some might see as curiously paradoxical, at least at the outset. But, once they began, they soon found that there were many elements of their friendship that remained very much the same, despite others that had been tweaked and still others that were completely new.

So how did these results arise? In essence, the outcome was a product of their individual and shared beliefs, and it’s important to recognize that given the role that they play in shaping and manifesting the reality they experienced. It’s unclear whether either Ferrell or Steele were aware of this way of thinking as their story unfolded, but, considering how events turned out, it’s easy to see how their thoughts, beliefs and intents led to the results they experienced.

Consider the various aspects of this old friendship in a new context. Given the duo’s history, a close bond had developed between them over time, one they both obviously wanted to preserve going forward. On some level, they each must have believed that more had gone right than wrong in their relationship, meaning that it was truly worth maintaining, despite the change in their circumstances, a scenario made possible by mutually held beliefs. Yet, as those skilled in this school of thought are aware, beliefs are malleable, capable of change, adaptation and accommodation. Indeed, if so many elements of their friendship had worked so well for so many years, then certainly there must be much worth saving, with belief adjustments made to make that outcome entirely possible.

From this, it becomes apparent that this goal can be accomplished by drawing upon established commonalities first. Just because someone changes gender doesn’t automatically mean that his or her likes, dislikes, interests, hobbies, outlooks and relationships are necessarily going to be discarded, especially if there are kindred spirits around to engage in and mutually enjoy such pursuits. As illustrated here, Will and Harper were anxious to test the waters in these regards, particularly in light of how many “guy things” they regularly did together in the past. They initially weren’t sure how this might play out, but they soon found that they could still enjoy attending sporting events and visiting dive bars now just as they did for many years.

These mutual interests received considerable belief support from the genuine, heartfelt feelings that Will and Harper held for one another, considerations again driven by their beliefs. They spent many enjoyable, fulfilling years together on the same page in both their friendship activities and their collaborative creative pursuits and connections. When two individuals are that much in sync with one another, what would possess them to capriciously cast such a bond aside, especially if their connection is obviously driven by such a strong bank of belief-based mutual personal affinity? Of course such individuals are going to remain friends. In fact, if they had discovered that the opposite were somehow now true, then one would have to wonder how solid the friendship was to begin with. Indeed, if the relationship had fallen apart, then whatever beliefs that had been in place previously would have been of a very different nature from those that Will and Harper had embraced regardless of the changes in their individual circumstances. The authenticity behind what made them friends was undeniable, and it’s what enabled the relationship to endure. One might even say that this alteration in their situation made them even closer than before, a change that genuinely allowed them to become better friends.

As becomes apparent in the film, beliefs played an important role on an individual level, too, particularly where Harper is concerned. Beyond seeing how her change in circumstances would affect her friendship with Will, she also had an opportunity to discover how these new conditions would impact her relationship with herself, especially her comfort level with being out in public in the kinds of environments she used to frequent as Andrew. Could she still feel at ease attending a sporting event or going into a corner bar as a woman as she once did as a man? Again, this is where beliefs come into play. If she believed she’d be accepted, then she’d be accepted, as she found out much to her surprise when visiting a good ole boy tavern in Oklahoma. But, as Harper discovered, the opposite could also be true, as she found out for herself when having dinner at a Texas steakhouse, a decidedly uncomfortable experience that prompted a flurry of hate speech posts on social media in the wake of her visit. And then there are those instances that yielded mixed results, such as the basketball game she attended in Indianapolis, one of her first highly public and notably tentative outings, where she was warmly welcomed by some spectators but also had an uncomfortable encounter with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who had just signed into law legislation banning gender-affirming care for the state’s minors, an interaction that hit particularly close to home.

This range of experiences thus reflects beliefs about the mixed reactions that the public holds about the transgender community, both among its constituents and in society at large, a revelation important to us all about where we stand on this issue. In many ways, trans men and women have only recently begun stepping forward more courageously and in greater numbers than in the past, so the community and its members are just now beginning to get a sense of where they stand and their comfort levels, both for themselves and in relation to others. It’s a very fluid and evolving situation, one whose character will undoubtedly continue to change. However, in the meantime, all concerned must bear in mind that their beliefs will play an important role in the direction things go. Fortunately, we have an inspiring, uplifting and enlightening example to draw from in this film, showing us what’s possible in the hope that relationships like those between Will and Harper become more the norm than the exception.

Director Josh Greenbaum has assembled a lively, colorful, earnest account of two old friends seeking to discover if and how they could relate to one another under the conditions of a new paradigm. This Netflix streaming release is a heartfelt celebration of friendship with moments that are touching, emotional, funny, silly and revelatory, presenting a wide range of feelings all wrapped up in one affecting package – not unlike what should happen in the relationships between all longtime pals. It’s indeed comforting to know that, in situations like these, we truly can find a new friend in an old companion, as well as an old friend in a new companion, an examination of how things have evolved while at the same time being fundamentally unchanged. To be sure, just because some things change, that doesn’t mean that everything else necessarily has to follow suit, no matter how dramatic the shift may be. But isn’t that what solid friendships are supposed to be all about?

A complete review is available by clicking here.

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