An impressionistic documentary centered around Tangier, an island in the Chesapeake Bay, Been Here Stay Here has big ambitions that aren't always met.
With a population of 400, Tangier has a struggling economy closely tied to the climate. One resident points out that the island is five feet above sea level. Storms and higher-than-normal tides lead to flooded houses and streets.
Climate change affects the livelihood of most of the inhabitants. Rising water temperatures hurt oyster beds and reduce crab populations. Since jobs are almost all fishing-related, younger residents tend to leave the island for better opportunities on the mainland.
Director David Usui had remarkable access to the people and places on Tangier. His camera is in tight on the faces of fishermen harvesting crabs, on deacons delivering sermons, on children playing on the beach. We see kitchens, offices, storerooms, and sacristies, as well as the island's physical beauty: Coves lit by a full moon, duck blinds at dawn, tidal flats, reeds brushed by the wind. The documentary stretches over several seasons, from wintry snows to Fourth of July fireworks, from storms to serene sunsets.
Usui adopts a verité approach. Having dealt with tourists and government officials, the residents are savvy enough about publicity to act as if Usui and his crew aren't standing next to them on docks or in churches and classrooms.
Nothing appears to be off limits, but Usui respects the people of Tangier enough to depict them in a warm, sympathetic light — even when they are rejecting the evidence of climate change around them.
Usui had the good fortune to follow a German documentary crew making a piece about climate change. They can ask the questions Usui can't, filling in useful information about the impact of changes in the weather.
The verité approach might suggest a connection to docs by Frederick Wiseman, but Been Here Stay Here feels closer to RaMell Ross's Hale County This Morning, This Evening, using vignettes rather than narrative, moods and feelings rather than facts.
This is most apparent during a long montage at the end of the piece. The camera pulls back slowly from an abandoned house, dissolving through shots seen earlier, to reeds, a sinking sun, to imagery that suggests water flooding our view of the shoreline.
Religion plays a strong part in Been Here Stay Here. Usui shoots scenes at church services, but also uses sermons in voice-overs throughout the doc. Citing Noah's Ark makes sense on a sinking island, but preaching about "what the lord has done to the island during the past winter" makes it seem that the residents of Tangier are helpless.
In fact, the story of Tangier can be repeated up and down the Atlantic Coast, on Cape Cod and Tuckernuck, Fire Island, the Outer Banks, and so forth. Viewers should recognize our culpability, even if the islanders do not.
The film opens Friday, May 15, 2026, in limited theatrical release at New York City's Quad Cinema, and will open Wednesday, May 27, at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles, via Grasshopper Film.