I absolutely loved this movie and wish there were more high quality movies like this for me to watch.
An elderly white man in a nursing home sneaks out and goes back to his lifelong home, the family farm, only to find it inhabited by a young family who he's known for years: a southern white trash family. The old man is shocked to find out that his lawyer son (who has left the country to go to the city to work his white collar job) has rented out his home and had seemingly on his own, decided that the man would spend the rest of his life in the nursing home. The old man rejects that notion and he is angry that he is not being allowed to have a voice or live his life as he feels he is physically able to.
The old man moves into the former slave quarters which he finds a personal insult, supposedly on a very temporary basis until he can get the renters out and move back into his own home. However the family will not budge and a power struggle and stand-off between the old man and the young, alcoholic, abusive, disabled man begins. At times the conflict is comical and at other times it is heartbreaking.
This movie is a melancholy story.
The old man just wants to be allowed to live the rest of his life in his home and on his farm, to be allowed die there. The temporary setback from his now-healed fractured hip he feels is over and he thinks that he is now able to live back on the farm on his own, even if he can't do all the farming that he did when he was younger. He is lonely since his wife passed on. He must struggle and negotiate with his very busy attorney son about his future plans and he resents having to have to convince his son about what he wants for his own life. He wants to continue to be independent and he wants to live his life with dignity: two things that living in an elderly home do not provide.
The younger man who rented the farm and house is also struggling to fulfill his dream, of owning his own home and land and making a living off a farm rather than just squeaking by on disability payments. However it seems doubtful that he is able to do what is takes to live the life of his dreams.
This movie is fantastic and makes us think about the rights of the elderly, issues regarding the safety of the elderly who wish to live alone in their twilight years. It makes you think about your dreams and what it takes to make them happen.
I found the movie heart-wrenching and I was brought to tears multiple times.
The film was beautifully shot with wonderful artistic cinematography.
This movie is based on a short story by William Gay "I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down".
Links Official movie website