A man returns to his childhood home.
CHIPPER is used with permission from Shaun MacLean. Learn more at https://instagram.com/chipper_film.
Estranged from his family, Reese hasn't been back to his hometown in a while, preferring instead to wander the country on his motorcycle. But after he gets a strange, mysterious letter from his father, he decides to head back to his childhood home, where his sister Carol lives with their father.
Reese discovers his father is dying, as well as a dark family secret that would change their dynamic forever if known. As pressure mounts, Reese is forced to make a painful decision -- but can he make it without destroying what's left of his family?
Directed by Shaun MacLean and written by Lane Skye and Ruckus Skye, this raw, resonant drama develops both a family story about a wayward son returning to the family home and a man who must reckon with a difficult decision about his dying elderly father. Through rich writing and perceptive directing, these stories intertwine to powerful effect, as its main character faces a crisis that will have momentous repercussions, no matter what he does.
The film has a weathered naturalistic look that fits its rural Southern setting, captured in rich, unvarnished cinematography that evokes a full, distinctive sense of place. Both the visuals and the writing are rich enough for the audience to understand why Reese left many years ago, and the first part of the narrative is Reese's discovery of what he's getting back into when he returns, pulled back by a strange letter from his father, addressed to CHIPPER, the childhood nickname he had for Reese.
What Reese discovers is a dying father, cared for by his sister Carol, who refuses to see just how far gone into illness their father is and is resentful of Reese for saddling her with the burden of caring for their father alone without much support. Actor Jayson Warner Smith has the air of a free-spirited loner, driven to roam the land on his bike with spiky independence. But as the story deepens in emotional intensity, he also reckons with what his freedom has cost others, beautifully conveying anguish and guilt. In the end, forced to make a hard decision, he also reveals love and loyalty -- qualities that no one else but perhaps the audience will see in the end.
That fiercely held love haunts the conclusion of CHIPPER, which also brims with other questions. As the population ages in the U.S. and the job of caring for elders falls to Generations Jones and X care for them -- already squeezed in their other ways -- they will confront difficult questions about aging, mortality and quality of life, especially as both Reese and others realize how caretaking can take such a toll without social support. The film is admirably restrained in both artistry and tenor, but such questions can't help but gently provoke -- especially when delivered in such an emotionally layered, empathetic narrative as this.