The latest family affair from Alexandre Rockwell (In the Soup, 13 Moons) is a product from another time. On the surface, it could very well have been a black-and-white low-budget indie that was left lounging in a time capsule since missing its release window some 35 years ago. But the warm and beating heart of this family-in-crisis drama — told through the eyes of two untended siblings — is pure French New Wave, starting with a Truffaut-inspired iris in. When first we meet Billie (Lana Rockwell) and her younger brother Nico (Nico Rockwell), the two are living with their father Adam (Will Patton, in top form), who appears to make just enough money to keep a roof over their heads and his belly filled with firewater. One can’t help but notice their nonderelict appearance and how amazingly self-sufficient a pair of borderline homeless children lacking in proper parenting can be. Time with their mother Eve (Karyn Parsons, Alexandre’s wife and Lana and Nico’s mom) and her musclebound new beau Beaux (M.L. Josepher) convinces the children that maybe life with an alcoholic father — one who loves them, at least — isn’t so bad. Considering what atrocities audiences have seen children endure simply to advance a plot or add a foregone conclusion, there is a genteel nature at work here that keeps things gritty without once doubling down on foulness. (2020) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.