Roesch NJJFF: Fantasy Life

Post-screening Q&A with writer-director Matthew Shear on Zoom

Director: Matthew Shear
2025, USA, 91 minutes
English with English subtitles
Feature

After losing his paralegal job and suffering a panic attack, 30-something Sam (writer-director Matthew Shear) stumbles into an unexpected role: babysitting his psychiatrist’s three lively granddaughters. What begins as a one-time favor turns into a year-long entanglement with the family. Sam becomes especially close with their mother, Dianne (Amanda Peet, in a career-best performance), an actress whose career has stalled and whose marriage to touring rock musician David (Alessandro Nivola) is growing strained. As boundaries of employment, friendship, and family blur, Sam and Dianne work towards their own epiphanies.

Fantasy Life features an all-star supporting ensemble, including Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, and Holland Taylor. It has been a film festival hit, screening at the Montclair Film Festival and winning the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Narrative Feature at SXSW.

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