Films shot during COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdowns are starting to feel dated – mainly when it comes to seeing masks on screen – but (as in the case of Guto Parente’s new film A Strange Path they are still emerging into distribution and continue to offer a fascinating dramatic glimpse into a unique period in time. But in this case the film astutely examines familiar themes in terms of the challenging nature of family relationships, and as such it could have been made at any time. The film is set against the backdrop of March 2020, just as the world is starting to try and deal with the awful realities of COVID and a period where personal and travel circumstances changed regularly. After spending 10 years with his mother in Portugal, filmmaker David (Lucas Limiera) returns to Brazil to attend a special screening of his experimental film that is scheduled to be screened at a film festival in his hometown. His mother is encouraging David to see his estranged father Geraldo (Carlos Francisco), and while David has no interest in rekindling the relationship, the nature of the pandemic sees his dreams taken over by images of his father. Changing COVID restrictions sees the festival rescheduling and when his phone is stolen and the hostel where he is staying closes down, David opts to try and stay with his father. Initially things go well – despite Geraldo being somewhat reluctant to have David sleeping on his sofa – but as the days draw on the pair start to bicker as they struggle to adjust to not just living together but also engaging in a father-son relationship. Geraldo refuses to let his son use his home computer to try and make arrangements to leave, and while moments of reconciliation are few and far between, there is a sense of some kind of warming when David convinces his father to watch his film. By its very nature A Strange Path is an intimate and provocative film, and while it doesn’t really pander to the actual pandemic the awful realities of that period in time haunt the narrative without actually taking over what is essentially a simple father-son relationship. Mark Adams