After landing at Independent Film Company (formerly branded IFC) and Sapan Studio, the animated feature film “Tangles” has released a new trailer.
Adapted by Leah Nelson, Trev Renney and Sarah Leavitt from Leavitt’s acclaimed graphic memoir “Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me,” the film tells its story through expressive, predominantly black-and-white animation.
It is a poignant and unexpectedly funny portrait of a family navigating profound change, tracing the toll of early-onset Alzheimer’s alongside the more universal bonds between parents and children, the identities we build away from home and the humor and resilience that endure as memory begins to slip.
The voice cast features Abbi Jacobson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen and Samira Wiley.
Speaking recently at the Middleburg Film Festival after a screening, Nelson discussed the 10-year journey of getting “Tangles” made with Variety. Nelson said, “It was a tricky piece of content to translate into a script and into something linear. Sarah’s book is based on her memories, and a lot of it came together through little notes, snippets and drawings that she had made.” Nelson admitted, “It was a challenging adaptation, but we had a lot of support.”
Among those lending their support were producers Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen. Both joined Nelson on the panel.
The couple started dating more than two decades ago, as Miller Rogen’s mother, Adele, was showing the first signs of the illness she would suffer from for the final 16 years of her life.
Miller Rogen spoke about receiving the script and feeling a connection to it. “Not only did I see my story very much in it — in that my mom was diagnosed in her early 50s. She was a teacher. My dad was a very devoted caregiver. It’s universal stuff.”
Speaking about the film’s visual style, Miller Rogen says, “The stark black and white, I feel, held the space for how complicated this disease was and I liked that balance of what, on the surface, are simple black-and-white drawings, but we’re holding such big emotional moments and I thought that was really special.”
Rogen talked about how the film balances a heavy theme with sharp humor. He said, “I’ve personally been drawn to the challenge of taking something like this and finding ways to extract humor from it and beauty, poignancy and resonance in ways other than it just being sad.”
Rogen called “Tangles” a truly interesting creative endeavor. “To have the audience go on a journey that emotionally is not what they’re expecting it to be, and to find yourself laughing amid these very sad moments, I also think is really reflective of having lived an experience very much like this and it truly is the embodiment of sadness and joy, swirling together in unexpected ways.”
“Tangles” is produced by Vicky Patel, Steve Barnett and Alan Powell of Monarch Media; Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee and Madeline Blair of Point Grey Pictures; Ross Murray, Teresa Toews, Jay Grandin and Nelson through Giant Ant; Miller Rogen, Jen W. Ray and Sophie Hoegh through LYLAS Pictures; and Louis-Dreyfus.
It will be released next month for a qualifying theatrical run.
Watch the preview below.