Steven Spielberg has never shied away from the fact that he is a child of divorce. If anything, he’s utilized it to influence the majority of his films. Never, though, has he addressed the topic, and his past, head on— until now. The Fabelmans, following a family grown in the 1950’s and eventually broken in the 60’s, is the great director’s first truly autobiographical tale, channeling his memories of passion and pain which led him to be the creator he is.
I never think of Spielberg as a film historian in the way I do a few others of his generation. His major influences are known, of course, but it always feels to me that the films he loves are imbedded within his own. Here, he centers his young self in a movie theater twice, showing us directly what crossed in front of his eyes. But after a screening of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, every time a room is darkened and a projector is turned on, it is playing something made by him, presenting us the growing showmanship within his own frames. You can’t help but see these amateur productions translating into pieces like Jaws, Close Encounters, and Jurassic Park. It is great.
When the family is moved to California and the teenaged character loses his passion, you can feel the gears shifting a bit, and the entire section feels like its own movie. Screenwriter Tony Kushner runs through first kisses, religious conflict, and prom, as quickly as he can to get the story towards its conclusion. When we get there, an emotional, supportive, and stunning set of consecutive conversations between his mother, his father, and the cinematic holy spirit, we know he did it once again. Another story full of hope and the magic of movies. The young Fabelman, nay, Spielberg walks off into the horizon on the studio lot and the rest is history.

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Available in select theaters. Available everywhere 11/23.