Sundance 2025 Review: SUNFISH (& OTHER STORIES ON GREEN LAKE), Underachieving Lake Michigan Drama

A low-key resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan is the setting for four stories about unhappy people. The narratives in Sunfish (and Other Stories on Green Lake) almost but not quite interlock. Told from different perspectives, the stories share a general malaise that feels out of place with Marcus Patterson's sunny, carefree cinematography.

This is the feature debut for writer and director Sierra Falconer, who in interviews said she grew up in some of the same places depicted in the film. It's also Falconer's UCLA thesis film, which makes it feel like a project that's been worked over too many times.

In "Sunfish," the first story, Louise (Maren Heary) is forced to spend the summer with her grandparents when her mother takes off on an extended honeymoon. Lu sulks for days, grudgingly takes an interest in wildlife, then devotes herself to learning how to sail her grandfather's Sunfish.

Lu's grandmother (Marceline Hugot) offers pointed advice, like how some loon mothers don't like to "piggyback" their babies, but for the most part the story plods along aimlessly, like a kid wasting away an afternoon. As for Lu's bad moods, it's difficult to commiserate with someone who refuses to see how good she's got it.

"Summer Camp" plops young Jun Emmons (Jim Kaplan) into a lakeside music school. Jun practices violin late into the night, cutting his foot whenever he makes a mistake. He eats by himself, staring longingly at handsome, more accomplished violinists. Even when he wins first chair after auditions, no one will talk to him.

"Summer Camp" strips away almost all individuality from its premise. Yes, Jun looks unhappy when he practices, and lonely when he wanders what looks like a fabulous campus. Who he is, what he wants: all unknown. Again, it's hard to find a reason to feel sorry for him.

In "Two Hearted," Annie (Karsen Liotta), an overworked single mom, befriends an alcoholic fisherman who claims to have spotted an enormous fish in the lake. The two steal a speargun from a local marina and head out on a boat. They are pursued by police, rangers, and a highly unlikely helicopter until an inconclusive ending.

More happens in this episode than any other in the film. Sadly, Annie's plight—young baby, no dad around, bad job—is not very compelling, especially when Falconer surrounds her with poorly written caricatures of dreamers and bigots.

Finally, "Resident Bird" finds sisters Blue Jay (Tenley Kellogg) and Robin (Emily Hall) preparing for Robin's departure at the end of the summer for culinary school in Chicago.

The two run a sort of B&B with their single dad Dan (Craig Nigh), a medical worker away for long stretches. The sisters play games, shop for food, gossip about their guests, and try to cope with loneliness. Blue is drawn to a visiting couple's teenage son, and Robin encourages her to spend time with him.

That's it, although the relationship between Blue and Robin is so warm and convincing that it's fun to watch. Both turn in the best performances in a film that is otherwise indifferently acted.

As could be expected with her background, Falconer and her crew capture wonderful details about summer on Lake Michigan: wind whistling through pines, majestic sunsets, inviting waters. They are the only moments of life in a film calculated to the nth degree.

Everything in Sunfish is so tightly structured that there's no room to breathe. The anthology format makes the characters seem even more hemmed in by narrative demands. It's not that scenes are weak or poorly written so much as completely, disappointingly predictable.

Photos courtesy of Sundance Institute. Visit the film's page at the festival's official site for more information.