IMFF '16: Joshua H. Miller and Miles B. Miller's All the Birds Have Flown South

I saw quite a few debut features at this year's festival, but none of them opened as intriguingly as All the Birds Have Flown South. Through a dialogue free series of events, we follow Stephen (Paul Sparks) as he wanders aimlessly around the home of his recently deceased mother. The place obviously hasn't been updated in many years, and looking at Stephen's suit and grooming, it would appear he has never moved out mom's house and was stuck in a time warp with her. This sequence does an exceptional job building atmosphere and creating a sense of mystery, continuing to do so once Stephen finally leaves the house and goes to a diner.

At first, it might seem as if Stephen is just trying to get away, but all that changes once a server named Tonya (Joey Lauren Adams) catches his eye. He offers her a ride home, which leads to taking her sick husband Jimmy (Dallas Roberts) to the doctor. Tonya is appreciative but suspicious of why this strange man would want to help her, as we get the sense that she hasn't seen a lot of charity in her life. Jimmy is verbally abusive and probably would be physically were he not bed ridden. With nothing else to do now that his mother is gone, Stephen shows back up at Tonya's home, a cheap motel, the next day to see if he can assist again. It is from here things really begin to spin out of control.

Up until this point, I was totally on board with All the Birds Have Flown South because it was emerging into a character study of these troubled, disconnected lives. But then it veers into directions that are excessively unpleasant without any real purpose. There are numerous scenes of Stephen and Tonya being verbally assaulted by Jimmy, though they hardly compare to the scenes of Tonya using drugs and eventually being beat up and raped. I'm not saying this subject matter cannot be used effectively in a movie but here, it feels like a devise to shake the audience. Stephen is the most fascinating character in the movie, so when he is offscreen the movie loses steam.

There is certain to be some debate over the ending. During the Q&A following the screening, the writing/directing team said they felt the climactic events were inevitable, although I'm not so sure I agree with them. The reasoning behind what happens does leave some questions for the audience, and that's not a bad thing, but I don't feel like Stephen was developed enough to justify them. It's a real shame too, because I found the movie to be very well acted and technically made, with some original and memorable visual touches. Had the movie stayed focused on Stephen and not become so concerned with Tonya's downward spiral, this could have been quite a movie. I will look forward to seeing what these brothers, Joshua H. Miller and Miles B. Miller do with a more focused screenplay.


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