Marrakech Film Festival Review: Stunningly Accomplished And Deeply Affecting 'Everything We Loved'

At the beginning of Max Currie’s debut feature “Everything We Loved,” we see a man sharing a few tender moments with his small son. It soon becomes clear that something’s amiss in this twosome however, as Tommy (Ben Clarkson), the boy, inquires after his mommy, and Charlie (Brett Stewart), explains that she’s dead. Tommy’s not buying it though, and so Charlie distracts him with magic tricks and a Christmas celebration. The audience understanding of the situation slowly and continuously evolves as tiny, almost missable bits of information unfold onscreen: a news broadcast about a missing boy; a Christmas book labeled “Hugo”; Charlie telling Tommy, “I’m not the daddy that made you.”

The situation becomes crystal clear with the arrival of Charlie’s wife, Angie (Sia Trokenheim). She seems broken and grieving, and horrified that Charlie has a strange boy in the house. A strange boy who is a ringer for their dead son. Charlie manages to convince Angie not to call the police to report the...