A “period piece” hearkening back to a time of very recent memory, Kerr’s enigmatic and disquieting feature debut takes place one summer day on a sprawling, idyllic estate in Texas. A large family gathers to take a group picture, only for the matriarch to disappear and the rest of the clan to seemingly scatter to the wind, leaving daughter Katy (Deragh Campbell) to try to salvage the gathering in a world where reality is increasingly untrustworthy. A subtly modulated work that gets under the viewer’s skin by way of ominous sound design and masterfully orchestrated Steadicam cinematography, creating an unforgettable atmosphere of ambient anxiety.

Family Portrait streams on demand on Metrograph At Home with an exclusive introduction from director Lucy Kerr.