Tangles

Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me comes to life in hand-drawn 2D animation, in director Leah Nelson’s deeply moving feature debut. 

Set in San Francisco in the ’90s, Tangles follows the story of Sarah, a young woman whose life is just beginning to tip into the stuff her dreams are made of — new opportunities to illustrate, a new romance with a bad-ass motorcycle-riding girlfriend named Donimo — when the pull of responsibility calls for her. Sarah’s lively mother Midge is battling Alzheimer’s disease, and the rest of the family is struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis. 

The animation is perfectly paired with an incredible cast. Sarah is voiced by Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said, TIFF ’13) is unforgettable as Midge, Bryan Cranston (The Upside, TIFF ’17) voices Midge’s husband Rob, Beanie Feldstein plays Sarah’s sister Hannah, and Samira Wiley is Donimo.  

Levity — the film’s top-notch supporting voice cast also includes comedians Seth Rogen, Bowen Yang, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, and Pamela Adlon — balances the heavy material, as Sarah tries to make sense of what’s happening with her mom’s failing mental acuity and the sudden, daunting role reversal of caring for a parent. 

Tangles deals with memories, family, and, most importantly, love, rendered in black and white animation, with bursts of colour. A film about memories, this one will stay with you.

KELLY BOUTSALIS

Content advisory: mature language, sexual content