What can be said about such actors: Robert Duvall (the hermit, Felix Bush), Sissy Spacek (Mattie Darrow, who loved Felix 40 years earlier) and Bill Murray (the slightly smarmy funeral parlor owner, Frank Quinn)?
Their craftsmanship is stunning to watch, as they bring to life the nuances of their characters - these are real people we're watching.
But there's a fourth actor here that deserves our attention: Lucas Black (Buddy, Quinn's assistant) who delivers a stellar performance - with his slow southern accent (for real, a native of Alabama), he's ernest, honest and innocent, but not naive).
These four are surrounded by a bevy of fine supporting actors who deliver the story with uncanny personality and winsomeness, delivering a fine script by Chris Provenzano and C. Gabby Mitchell under the direction of Aaron Schneider.
Set in Tennessee in the 1930s, the story is inspired by a real-life legend of a hermit who decided to throw a funeral party for himself, before he dies, and he's got the money to do it.
There are secrets here.
And they slowly emerge in this remarkable tale, wonderfully filmed amidst the pines and fields of Depression-era Tennessee.
It's about sorrow and lost love, and the inevitability of human frailty and hurt. That Felix Bush would be a hermit, and as we find out, self-imposed for a "crime."
Don't miss this remarkable film.
And don't wait for Netflix.
