Father Soldier Son

In its outcomes and politics, this film is almost begging to be oversimplified, but it's well worth staying on the alert for the ironies, the complexities and the tacit questions it finds a host of ways to express.

It's an observational documentary that doesn't push any one perspective too heavily; it's possible to watch it as a straightforward tribute to American soldiers and their families. But there often seems to be something darker lurking beneath the film.

Captures something essential about how our families shape us and help us make sense of the inexplicable.

The themes in Father Soldier Son are under the radar, ever-lasting, and have devastating effects that shape generations — it’s one of the year’s very best documentary films.