Title: TheyDream
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: William D. Caballero
Starring: Diana Alvort, William David Caballero, Vic Rico
Runtime: 1 hr 29 mins

What It Is: A multimedia artist tracks the history of his family through a mixture of old recordings, different forms of animation, and reenactments.

What We Think: The pure artistry of this film had me astounded. From stop motion to cartoon depictions to miniatures, this filmmaker more than proved his capabilities to use various mediums to express his family’s story. What is shown here is a fascinating amount of dedication and talent on full display. The true story of the family is very tragic and the ending is very heartwarming. The fact he bought his mother a new house? Absolutely beautiful. One can tell Caballero truly loves his family.

Now, all this being said, there were segments of the movie that did feel like they dragged. Some sequences probably could’ve been cut down a little as the pacing of the film didn’t always feel the most consistent. One or two of the segments did feel like they overstated their welcome a bit. For me as a critic, that is really the only negative I have to say about this film. Otherwise it is a remarkable artistic achievement for Caballero and he should feel very proud of the accomplishment that is this film. The fact that we even see the behind the scenes of the animated sequences in the film sells to me a level of dedication to craft that should be admired and applauded. This film is a testament that even a documentary can be art and that there is no excuse for a documentary to lack creative vision.

Our Grade: B+, a very solid artistic expression that deserves to be studied as a lesson in dedication and passion. Excellent film.