The colossal 110 Northbound/I-10 east exit in Los Angeles freeway is a battleground for drivers, who, even after remembering all the necessary safety rules and procedures, can’t help but get sideswiped by another car when merging lanes. When I was declared the highway’s daily victim on an Friday afternoon in February, I wasn’t sad because of my car’s bygone bumper, but because my means of traveling to the Mammoth Film Festival were thwarted, and that I wouldn’t be able to see Romina Schwedler’s film in person.
Born in Argentina with an artistic sentimentality crafted in New York, Schwedler was one of the director’s featured in the wintery, California film fest for her short picture “The Visit.” Prior to my accident, Schwedler had reached out to me via email regarding coverage of her film at the event. With Mammoth in my rear view, I still was enticed by film’s grappling with memory and mental illness. The director was able to provide me with a Vimeo link to watch her film as my car awaited repairs.
Starring Sean Maher, Sadie Katz and Oscar-nominated actress June Squibb, the film depicts a seemingly pleasant visit between a father and his elderly mom at a medical facility. But set-up for this familial gathering isn’t what it seems, with Schwedler toying with audience expectations and making a bold statement about the unreliability of memory.
Schwedler said the seed for her story came from a phone conversation she had with her dad about her great aunt Elsa, a woman who lived to be 102 but tragically had to watch several of her friends and loved ones pass before her. While Elsa great aunt didn’t suffer from a memory disorder like Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, her reactions to mentions of loved ones struck a deep emotional chord with the director.
“ Whenever anyone who meant anything to her was mentioned, she would immediately start talking about this party she needed to get ready for, where she was going to see them. This was devastating to me and at the same time intriguing,” Schwedler told Ampersand via email. “I’ve always been fascinated by the unique and unexpected ways of the human mind, and the mechanisms we can sometimes access to help us cope with extreme circumstances. It was halfway through this conversation that an idea popped into my mind.”
After watching the short film on my laptop, the similarities between Schwedler’s aunt and June Squibb’s character, Mrs. Perkins, were clear. Like Elsa, Mrs. Perkins is a woman of older age and does not appear to suffer from any major memory loss. While Elsa watched loved ones pass away, Mrs. Perkins watches as loved ones leave her side. It’s a provoking role, one that seems impossible for anyone to play except Squibb.
“After I saw her in the role of Kate Grant in “Nebraska” I just couldn’t see or hear anyone else in the role of Mrs. Perkins. I dreamt about having June in my film and knew that it would take a long time to get over the possibility of not having her.”
Squibb’s performance is inspired, and while she serves as the conduit for “The Visit,” she isn’t always at the center of it. The movie focuses more on Ben (Sean Maher) and Anna (Sadie Katz), a couple whose lives are torn by memories of a tragedy. Each minute unearths more of this unspeakable past, where by film’s close we’re left rattled and provoked. I’ll be ok if my car’s bumper needs replacing. But if my memory were to fail me, what else could I rely upon?