Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.
Stories We Tell is a formally inventive documentary that deconstructs the very nature of memory and narrative. Polley layers archival Super 8 footage (some staged), talking-head interviews, and her own voice-over to craft a genuinely singular meditation on family secrets and subjective truth. Its plot structure is exceptionally clever — gradually revealing layers of a personal mystery while interrogating how stories are constructed and by whom. The novelty is high: few documentaries so self-consciously interrogate their own form while remaining emotionally gripping. Acting (from the interview subjects and family members) is naturalistic and compelling, though it's a documentary so conventional acting metrics don't fully apply. Cinematography uses the mix of formats purposefully rather than for mere aesthetics. The ending is thoughtful but lands with slightly less impact than the revelatory middle sections, as the film's emotional peak comes before its conclusion.