Up Among the Stars

Victor is a washed-up film director, gone to seed since the death of his wife, struggling to support his son Ingmar (named after Ingmar Bergman) with no income and no work. His only friends are a family who manage a run-down cinema with a stockroom full of celluloid classics that nobody pays to see. Victor revels in dreams of past glories, when 'the Americans' sought him for his expertise in special effects, although his recent CV comprises a hamfisted documentary and a silent film about Ancient Greeks, so bad that the only thing people (mis)remember is the Romans and that nobody wants to watch silent films anymore. Ingmar, uninterested in cinematic greats, is happy to watch monster films while his father drinks. Victor keeps busy making films that he never completes, using Ingmar as his cast and crew, while trying to secure funding for his magnum opus, dodging a social worker with concerns about the child, and chasing an inheritance controlled by his estranged sister and debts owed by a former colleague who now films commercial ads. The plot of his planned film hinges on an idealized love story to replace the very real tragedy of his marriage, using fantastical sets and old-school special effects. Eventually Victor must accept reality and tell Ingmar the truth, but not before one last adventure.