A Mother (Blythe Duff) receives a surpise visit from her Son (Mark Barrett), who says he wants to mend their 'relationship', a word the parent scoffs at. His wife stays in the car, having no part in this war of dysfunction. Mum is acerbic, wounding. Son matches her, unable to plot the calm path he planned in his head. The dialogue is staccato, alienating, ith eye contact avoided. It's all sliding doors and no real communication
He tries again, and her therapist has told her to give it a go too. But all we get is the stories of why they are both so damaged, the difficult childhood, impossible marriage. Can they reach any kind of .... maybe not agreement, but a rapprochment?
Within the self consciously discordant style of action we can see real conecerns, real people, and the reasons why family life can sometimes be so difficult. There are also some decent laughs, much of it from Duff's biting sarcasm. It's not always enjoyable, but is absorbing and thought provoking, and greatly helped by two fine performances. Memorable.
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