FANTASY LIFE

Dir. Matthew Shear | Comedy | U.S.A. | 2025 | 1 hr. 31 min.

Followed by a discussion with producer and actor Amanda Peet, director, writer, executive producer, and actor Matthew Shear, and producer Christopher Dodds

After losing his job as a paralegal in New York, Sam Stein (Matthew Shear) suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters. Their mother, Dianne (Amanda Peet), is an actor whose once-promising career has stalled. She's also in a difficult marriage to David (Alessandro Nivola), a rock bassist. When he goes abroad on tour, Dianne and Sam discover an easy rapport as well as a shared history of mental illness. He joins her family, to babysit for the summer on Martha's Vineyard, and ends up in a house with the woman he pines for, her husband, the three kids, and all four grandparents, including his psychiatrist.