Jeffrey Nordling

Director Melody C. Roscher crafts Bird in Hand as a biting blend of absurdity and insights. The film is as much a farce as it is a deep dive into generational trauma and the quest to understand ourselves through our origins. Alisha Wainwright and Christine Lahti are the tumultuous anchors of this story. Their performances peel back the layers of lifelong resentment with hilarity and heartbreak, while Roscher smartly denies us any illusions about an easy fix. The closest this movie gets to the gold of kintsugi is the mud of Virginia. By the time the credits roll, you’re smiling because broken isn’t an ending, if you can see where the pieces fit together.