“Home Free” is a heartbreaking film, showcasing the power of unity when hardship strikes a family. The Canadian film is bound to draw tears from even the most stoic audience member, incorporating many tropes of hardship.
The Phoenix Film Festival is a classic event in the Valley of the Sun. Founded in 2001, the festival has been held at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 since 2014. “Home Free” was shown on Sunday, March 30th.
“Home Free” is a 2024 Canadian drama film directed by Avi Federgreen, and centers around a family of five. Daisy (Natalie Brown), Rain (Michelle Nolden) and Ivy (Tara Spencer-Nairn) are sisters, returning to their parents’ farmhouse for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Instead, the sisters are met with a surprise— their father has a fatal type of brain cancer, and he has chosen medically-assisted suicide.
The sisters are shocked by this information, and chaos ensues. They yell at each other, and cry alone. This film highlights the divisive effects of distance on an already contentious family dynamic.
Rain, the oldest, is a doctor and mom of two. She’s constantly on her pager, and her kids notice it. She portrays the classic role of an oldest sibling, as a pseudo-parent of her siblings herself. Ivy, the middle child incarnate, is abrasive and confrontational. She adorns herself in 2014 edgy millennial clothing, proving that she’s out of touch with her surroundings (namely her family). And Daisy, the youngest, who is a sweet, unassuming author. She writes erotic novels, which is fodder for the jokes of her family.
The mother is frail, and, after the cancerous reveal, sad. Their father is resigned to his situation and will not hear dissent from his three daughters. The father’s one desire before he dies is for the girls to spend this weekend as a reunion, to learn about each other.
This family was already struggling through the cracks below their smiling facade, but the information of their father’s condition splinters the girls apart. Rain’s medical knowledge confronts Ivy’s blustering attitude, while Daisy sits on the farmhouse couch and silently cries.
This movie is sad. Undeniably so. Upon immediate viewing, the Harkins Scottsdale 101’s audience in Theater 3 seemed downtrodden. But, with some reflection, this movie shows a realistic portrayal of a family, each set in their ways. They’re all stubborn in their own ways, but Ivy is the most obviously so.
The ending is horrifically surprising. After a weekend of tears and hugs, the parents lock themselves in their car in the garage and die together, arm in arm. With the context of how united the parents were despite their daughters’ dissent, this ending makes sense. Still, it’s unexpected. The daughters find their parents, and are finally united in their grief.
“Home Free” is a masterclass in tearjerkers, among classics in the genre such as “The Notebook” and “Steel Magnolias”. Find more films being shown at the festival here.