The Fabelmans

After a 60 year career in the movie industry, 75-year-old legendary director Steven Spielberg based The Fabelmans on the people and experiences that shaped his personal family life and early filmmaking beginnings. It is a tribute to his late parents who inspired and cultivated in him technical skills, by his father, and artistic skills by his mother.

In his first writing credit since Artificial Intelligence (2001), shared with frequent collaborator Tony Kushner, Spielberg perfectly balances the drama with moments of levity and laughter. Weaving both the technical and emotional, Spielberg interconnects complex combinations of cinematic genre, styles and technology producing a non-nostalgic, original, adventurous content with the unique vision he is so well known for.

Mirroring Spielberg's life are 7-year-old stand-in (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), teenager stand-in Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) in a lead breakout role, his three sisters, mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) an aspiring concert pianist, father Burt (Paul Dano) a mainframe computer prototype designer for General Electric, and father's best friend and co-worker “Uncle Benny” (Seth Rogen).

Sammy is a self taught amateur filmmaker of short home movies such as the WWII drama Escape to Nowhere, and western Gunsmog. During the casual filming of his day to day life, he unknowingly captured on tape the fractures of his parent's marriage.

The feature is well cast, with commanding performances by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, as well as powerful cameo appearances by actor Judd Hirsch, filmmaker David Lynch, as well as Steven Spielberg. Immaculate set designs by Rick Carter, and costumes by Mark Bridges further elevate this timeless classic's enjoyment.