I think I just used my entire shirt sleeve as a tissue. The lights came up in the theater and I had no idea where I was for a second. Just this wall of sound from everyone else shuffling out, sniffing, and the sticky floor sticking to my shoes. I feel hollowed out. In the best way possible. I think.
So, *The Dad Quest*. I went in thinking it was going to be this fun, lighthearted adventure movie, you know? Like *Indiana Jones* but with a bumbling dad. The trailers were all epic shots of them hiking through mountains and decoding ancient maps. And yeah, there's that. But the poster is a lie. The poster should just be a picture of a grown man trying not to sob in a dark room full of strangers.
I was not prepared. I had my giant popcorn, my soda, I was settling in. And then it just… gets you. It’s about this guy, Leo, whose dad is this legendary explorer who was never around. And the dad gets sick, so Leo tries to reconnect by finishing this "quest" his dad had always planned. It sounds so cliché, I know. But it’s not. It’s not about the quest at all.
There’s this one tiny moment. It’s not the big, tear-jerking climax. It’s just them in a tent, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And the dad, this guy who has wrestled alligators and navigated by the stars, is trying to use a new GPS. And his hands, these big, weathered, calloused hands that look like they’re carved from oak, are just fumbling with this little touch screen. He keeps tapping the wrong thing and getting more and more frustrated, muttering under his breath. And Leo just starts laughing. Not a mean laugh, just this gentle, warm laugh. And the dad looks up, caught off guard, and for a second, this whole legendary adventurer facade just drops, and he’s just… a dad. A flustered, kinda goofy dad who can’t work the newfangled gadget. I lost it. Right there. That was the first tear.
It made me think of my own dad. A few years ago, we got him a new smartphone for his birthday, and he spent an entire Saturday trying to set up his email. I remember walking into the den and he had the instruction booklet thrown across the room and he was just staring at the screen like it had personally insulted him. He looked so defeated. And I just sat down next to him and showed him how to do it. We didn’t say much. But it was… it was a good moment. Anyway.
The theater experience itself just amplified everything. When they were on top of that massive mountain range, the screen was so huge I felt like I could feel the wind. The score was swelling, the subwoofer was rumbling, and I was just completely lost in it. And then during the quiet scenes, you could hear a pin drop. Except for the sniffling. I wasn't the only one. I heard this guy a few rows down let out this really loud, wet sob during one part, and honestly, it was a relief. It gave me permission to just let go. We were all in it together.
Honestly, I'm questioning the whole quest part of the plot now that I'm sitting here in my car, the engine still running. The whole thing about the hidden map and the three magical sunstones or whatever… I thought I was totally buying into it while I was watching, but now… was it actually kind of dumb? Did it cheapen the very real, very raw story about a father and son trying to find each other before it's too late? I don't know. Maybe you need that silly, epic quest as an excuse to get them to talk. To get them to be in that tent together. Maybe the fantasy is what makes the reality possible. I'm going in circles.
The ending… god, the ending. I don't want to spoil it, but it’s not what you think it’s going to be. It’s not a Hollywood ending. It’s a real ending. And I was a mess. A full-on, ugly-crying, shoulder-shaking mess. I didn't even care. I just let it happen. The woman next to me quietly passed me a clean napkin from her purse. We didn't even look at each other. Just this silent, beautiful act of shared human experience in a dark theater. That’s the magic of these things, I guess.
I feel like I need to call my dad. But it's almost 1 AM. I'll text him tomorrow. Yeah. Tomorrow.
Okay. My head is pounding and my eyes are all puffy. I need to go drink a gallon of water.
9/10.
-Alex
Trailer English - https://youtu.be/hHBBqhSe_d4?si=JqqOMqnneuebQjNv