Reel Life

Gr 4-8–Galen, 11, and his friends are working diligently on a stop-motion film when Kyle storms out in tears, feeling raw from his parents’ divorce. Galen reflects briefly and returns to his happy home with his super-cool parents. To his surprise, he’s met with a harsh reality—his own parents are on the verge of separation, and Galen must navigate the uncertainties of his changing family dynamic. His parents, separately, overshare with Galen, and his father soon introduces his significantly younger girlfriend who, though cool, is also impulsive and reckless. Galen’s mom also starts dating a man with a teen daughter, who is reacting to her own family divorce with acrimony and anger. Woven throughout this maturing, multi-layered understanding of family dynamics are Galen’s crew’s attempts to create a film capturing the experience. The process is fraught and fractured at times, but ultimately a chance for catharsis and closure. The cartooning is affable, colorful, and wavy, leaning on central California’s calm visual atmosphere of beaches, low-profile houses, and gentle rolling hills to provide a comforting backdrop for a deeply felt story.