Austin Film Festival Movie Review: ‘Color Book’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jeremiah Daniels and William Catlett as Mason and Lucky in David Fortune’s COLOR BOOK. (Photo Courtesy of the Austin Film Festival.)

One unfortunate truth regarding stories that explore what life is like when we are in the midst of healing from trauma and loss, is that they are just… too perfect in nature. Think about it for a moment. Because so many of those stories feature people who yes, suffer and feel real pain over losing a loved one or by experiencing stunning trauma, but make their way back to the light in a supremely fast manner. As though pain from something such as that is fleeting in nature, and that with a good support network and some positive thinking and a handful of therapy sessions, anyone can overcome their pain and be whole again, just like that.
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But all that does is propagate the long standing and incorrect belief that we can just power through grief and that it is fleeting, and well… such storytelling decisions also cheapen the truth about grief and offer little to those who are eager to feel seen or find a sense of guidance. Which people do look for from tales about grief. But that is starting to change, for a great deal of creatives are coming to realize the disservice such stories offer the audience. So, we are now seeing movies, books, and shows that inform us that grief is hard and that it rips our lives apart and that there is a long road back from it, and that sometimes… we don’t get the chance to properly heal. Because life goes on when we lose people and sometimes… we are the glue that holds together a family and stopping to weep just isn’t in the cards. Not to mention, these new stories are even showcasing how we fail sometimes at healing and at life.

If anything, all of these elements are top of mind today, simply because a powerful and moving feature that recently screened at the Austin Film Festival, quite frankly, offers up the finest exploration of grief to date on screen, and Color Book accomplishes such a stunning feat, by introducing us to a widower named Lucky. For his wife recently passed away under tragic circumstances, making him the single parent of his son, Mason. Who also happens to be a child with Down syndrome, and well, in the days that follow her passing, Mason and Lucky struggle badly. To the point where it seems as though what lie ahead is nothing but sorrow and dark days. But the chance to buy a car and head to an Atlanta Braves game, so Mason can enjoy his first ever Major League Baseball game, might help their mental health. Provided of course, they can overcome the surprises that await them on their way to the city.

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Jeremiah Daniels and William Catlett as Mason and Lucky in David Fortune’s COLOR BOOK. (Photo Courtesy of the Austin Film Festival.)

All of which brings forth… a genuinely jaw dropping exploration of grief. Because not only does it show the outright devastation one experiences in those early days when death has come with a raw sense of realism that will make anyone who has lost a loved one, uncomfortable… but it explores every corner of those moments. Of how we are distant from the world, of how we struggle to get going and how… we have no choice but to move forward when so much is upon us. Because Mason needs his father, and food has to be put on the table and that pushes Lucky to his breaking point in this story. Where he fights hard to maintain patience with the world and his son, and everything in between and all of that… is so shockingly accurate, and the wonder of this film doesn’t end there. Because it also explores, how alone we feel with the world on our shoulders, and how parents in this moment feel akin to a failure.
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Because the struggle and the pain, slows us down, makes us late, leads us to bad decisions and mistakes, and kids don’t fully understand that, and all a parent can feel… is awful. For we expect the world of parents and look down upon human moments because we think sacrifice is all that matters as a parent and sometimes, a parent just cannot, especially when it comes to emotions, and yet… this movie still manages to offer up more impressive elements. Because we would be remiss to not point out that this film features a Black cast, and that’s something film still struggles to make happen on a consistent basis, and of course… it also explores experiences that can come forth for a parent raising a child with Down syndrome. That’s important to point out because this film presents that in a supremely respectful and positive manner, and that isn’t always the case in film, and it is refreshing to see people with Down syndrome respected and represented here.

In the end however, this story is more than a journey through sorrow and pain. It is also about… the beauty we miss while we’re grieving. Of the special moments we share with our family while we hurt and how those… actually manage to heal us just a little bit. Because they remind us to cherish life, to cherish what we still have, and while we won’t think upon that until after we’ve healed, it’s wonderful to see that on display in a film that is quite frankly… perfect. For this is the kind of movie cinema was made for. Since it offers us a compelling and powerful story we can relate to on some level, it features characters that feel real, and we can connect with and most of all, it moves us. For this magnificent feature will make you smile, make you cry and stay with you for a long, long time. Thanks to amazing performances from William Catlett (Lucky) and Jeremiah Daniels (mason), equally amazing direction from writer/director David Fortune, and a plot that truly informs us of how hard life can be when we lose the people, we love the most. While also reminding us… that what we still have in hand is worth fighting for.  

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