The Journey of Sam Now @Hot Docs 2022

Nothing is more rewarding when a life’s long work is finally put together. Director Reed Harkness puts this 25-year longitudinal journey of his family with a strong focus on his half-brother Sam on film. When both Reed and Sam were children, Reed would pick up his father’s camera and film Sam’s intriguing adventures. There was so much footage that they were able to piece together this mosaic of Sam and his family. Sam Now is a documentary that shows the timeline of Sam growing up in his family. This includes all the important events that a child loves such as birthdays and holidays. But more important when the whole family experiences a devastating event when Sam’s mother Jois disappears.

In the beginning…

The beginning chapters of Sam Now are filled with joy and happiness for Sam and his family. These are taken with handhelds Super 8s and the Arri 4K where Sam is shown in a different light. Especially when he gets into his hero costume or his other alias The Blue Panther. He’s hoping that his super detective-style hero powers lead him to communicate with his mother once again. It’s light-hearted but one only a child could render while pushing down the hurt and trauma from his mother leaving. Sam is hoping that he will save his mother from the now misery he thinks she faces. To ultimately return to the family where she was once happy.

Sam Now hits hard on those who were raised by a single parent and were left behind by the other. The film is difficult to absorb because it refrains from the stereotype of men leaving their families behind. Sam Now is a character study of a mother leaving her family and children behind midway through their growing stage. As Sam is looking for answers to why she left, the audience is left deciphering her motivation to do so and this is a journey in itself.

The main focus

What is so amazing about the film Sam Now it takes you on the Harkness family journey of 25 years. It’s a longitudinal type of documentary filmmaking that deserves more respect. What director Reed Harkness is showing the audience is what really happens to people when the floor falls under them. You see how an event such as Jois Harkness’s leaving can persist in people’s minds and hearts over the years. Plus the fact we see her content with her life before she took this life-changing step. Even though Sam Harkness is built as the main character in this film, its sub-focus Jois Harkness rises to the person in question and who we become more curious about. Sam’s mother is the cause and he is the effect as she unintentionally becomes the main subject of Sam Now. She is the heart of the matter.

www.samnowmovie.com