Too Much Sugar

The opening shots are precise: those who will become the protagonists are children of a time and a place—Moberly, Missouri, in the twenty-first century. This is not a town of the rich, and even less a town of Hollywood stars. Ryan Holliger is a survivor of an unjust social and economic order. He is a carpenter and calls himself a fighter. He has been in prison several times, but that is behind him now. At forty-four, his present wish is a simple one: to be a good father to the five children he has had with different women. He has another dream too: to make a film about his life. Greene fulfils this dream, but at the same time explores the cinematic fantasies of his children, of Ryan’s mother and of his best friend, who has also been to prison and tragically lost his teenage son. Greene’s narrative and sociological intelligence lies in bringing together the films the characters would like to make—fragments of which are actually staged—in a portrait that cuts across their lives, allowing us to see clearly how the social stereotypes universalised by Hollywood can enter the imagination of a small town and shape its inner life. Under their influence, Ryan aspires to embody a story of redemption built upon strength of will. (Roger Koza)

Robert Greene: OWNING THE WEATHER (2009), KATI WITH AN I (2010), FAKE IT SO REAL (2011), ACTRESS (2014), KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE (2016), BISBEE ’17 (2018), PROCESSION (2021)