I Am Not a Hipster

A film set in San Diego. Brook is a musician. He has released an album and is known in the city; he plays small venues and there is interest around him. But something is wrong. He walks off stage during a set, is harsh with people and says he hates his own music. The reason is his mother, who died a year ago. He talks to nobody about it. His father and two sisters come to the city. They have brought his mother's ashes and want to hold a ceremony; Brook is not ready. The film covers four days of the family being together. The sisters work on him, the father keeps his distance and each carries a different grief. The second line is the art scene: the artists in the city, exhibitions, cheap shows and everyone trying to make something. The film neither glorifies nor mocks it. What the narrative is interested in is not creativity but the uselessness of spreading your pain onto the people around you. The songs were written inside the film and played live. Dominic Bogart plays Brook. Destin Daniel Cretton directed and wrote it; it is his first feature and was made on a low budget. Who it is for: anyone who likes American independent cinema and stories of grief with music. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a likeable protagonist; Brook is unbearable for much of the film and the narrative does not soften it.