Brigsby Bear

(Dave McCary/2017/USA) 

Brigsby Bear is a sweet little comedy that explores ideas around creativity and its usefulness in helping get over traumatic events. The general message seems to be that embracing our passions and in some cases, obsessions, can be a positive thing. There are nods to geek fandom and hobbyists and a warm acceptance of this culture. Its only flaw is a slight tweeness at times. If you haven’t seen it and want to, stop reading now because discussing the story is impossible without spoiling the beautiful weirdness of its opening section.

James lives with his folks in a bunker, protected from the toxic air above ground and does chores as well as poring over new episodes of a show starring Brigsby the Bear. When he’s freed from the bunker by police and returned to his real family almost 20 years after being abducted the transition back to normal life and a world he’s never experienced is not smooth. The biggest problem is his favourite thing in the whole world, Brigsby, doesn’t actually exist and there ain’t going to be any more episodes. But this in itself becomes his route to reconnecting with his family. He decides to make his own film finishing the adventures of Brigsby once and for all, indulging his imagination and reshaping the trauma of his previous existence into something positive. Heart warming and funny and gently acerbic, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.

(3.5/5)