Direction: Ricky D’Ambrose
Country: USA
In Ricky D’Ambrose’s third feature, The Cathedral, the life of Jesse Damrosch (Robert Levey II and William Bednar-Carter) and his parents - Richard (Brian d'Arcy James) and Lydia (Monica Barbaro) - expand to other members of the family via a sequential thread of fragmental portraits that compose a bigger picture. The singular, well interpreted story of the family spans two decades, and is presented with a retro look and consonant decor.
Processed with botches of melancholy (there’s this sense of solitude, fear and bashfulness that shrouds the central character), the film is not exactly disarming but bestowed with just enough charm and pathos to make us interested. Hostilities, emotional pugnacity, unforgiveness, and cruelty evoke a wide spectrum of possible family issues that are immediately relatable.
D’Ambrose’s style is less detailed and conversational than Richard Linklater's but more expeditious. The Cathedral is by no means incompetent; it's just almost pathologically elementary, floating with nostalgia and a few painful moments that could go even further in its narrative purpose. David Lowery (A Ghost Story, 2017; The Green Knight, 2021) is credited as executive producer.
