A trailer has dropped for “Boundaries,” Shana Feste’s portrait of a complicated relationship between a daughter and father. Laura (Vera Farmiga) doesn’t see her dad (Christopher Plummer) as a faultless hero or an irredeemable villain — but he’s leaning towards the latter, which is why she’s trying to keep him out of her life.
The spot kicks off with Laura proudly telling her therapist about ignoring her estranged father’s call. But Laura’s struggle to maintain boundaries isn’t limited to her interactions with her dad — her therapist notices that she’s hiding a kitten in her purse. She’s already adopted far too many cats and dogs, but she can’t say no.
It’s only a matter of time before Laura answers her father’s call. He’s been kicked out of his nursing home for dealing pot and needs a place to stay. Despite fears about him negatively influencing her son (Lewis MacDougall), Laura reluctantly agrees to drive her father across the country.
“I have set a boundary. It’s a line in the sand — in the concrete, actually,” Laura says. But it seems like her father excels in breaking down those barriers.
“Boundaries” is based on a road trip Feste took with her own father. “After working on a studio film, I knew I wanted my next film to be personal. I wanted to write something that no one could take away from me — that I could make inexpensively, and find my voice again as a filmmaker,” she told us. “It felt natural to write about my father. When your father has been married six times, had six kids with different women, gone to prison for beating casinos, and trafficking marijuana, it’s hard not to be inspired by him creatively.”
Feste’s previous credits include “Endless Love,” “Country Strong,” and “The Greatest.”
Farmiga received an Oscar nod for her role in “Up in the Air” and an Emmy nomination for her portayal of Norma Bates in “Bates Motel,” which she starred on from 2013–2017.
“Boundaries” premiered at SXSW and opens in NY and LA on June 22.