Reeling: The Way I See Things

A lightly amusing and beautifully lensed film, The Way I See Things was written and directed by its star, Brian Pera. Depressed over the unexpected death of his longtime companion, Pera’s Otto undertakes a cross-country road trip with his interminably perky friend Rob, in an effort to escape his own painful memories. Rob thinks the trip will help Otto pull himself together. Instead, Otto falls further apart. At a rest stop, he escapes with a carload of strangers, leaving behind his friend, his past, and even his name, and ending up at a commune where, despite the fictitious persona he’s created for himself, he seems to fit right in. But in a world without clear markers between memory and fantasy, friend and lover, self and stranger, Otto isn't sure he can truly belong anywhere, or trust anyone, again.