Movie Review: Clutter
There comes a time when you realize that you, the child, has to become the parent of your parents. It’s a sad, poignant reminder of how time moves in a perfect, yet imperfect, circle.
The movie, Clutter, is written by Paul Marcarelli and is available On Demand. It reveals moments found in mementos that have been stored away by a mother trying to hold on to all that is dear, but hopelessly lost in the disarray of memories. Meanwhile her children are trying to hold onto their mother, who they are realizing and eventually understanding the fact that she has turned into their child.
Actress Carol Kane gives a wonderful portrayal of the mother. You believe her as she wanders around her home, having lost touch with reality and walking into slight dementia, possibly attached with a touch of mental illness. In truth, the mother never lost touch with reality as she valiantly holds on to her strength of defending her children, and in turn each child in their own way is also protecting their mother.
This movie touched me as a mother, how we love to have a full house and to bake cookies for visitors, touching and holding onto every relic that is dear and a part of each child and a life. Most mothers try not to let time go by so fast, holding onto everything that is dear, yet at some point there is a need to decide what to part with.
Because of the title ‘Clutter’, one of the misconceptions is that it is a movie about hoarding. It is not. For me it about the many fragmented elements of what a life is all about. My own mother, with so many memories, tried to hold onto everything that meant everything to her because they were parts of her children and her life.
As moms, we try to freeze time by holding onto that book, that gift, that note that touched our hearts and is a part of us. We are all hoarders of memories and we are all cluttered with life.
This movie reveals as much in every scene unfolding. How do you stop time and freeze life? Ultimately, of course, you cannot. What you can do is hold onto each other as a family no matter the outcome, drama and theatrics that may ensue. No matter how much fighting a family goes through, in the end we must remember where we come from and where we can go as a family.
The wonderful cast enthralled me from the first moment and to say the least, I highly recommend this movie.
Watch the trailer here:
