A House Full of Things Left Unsaid

Read Time:5 Minute, 37 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Don't Mind Me
–

Genre: Comedy, Drama
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director(s): Isaiah Hoban Halvorsen
Writer(s): Isaiah Hoban Halvorsen
Cast: Brandon Autry, Jana Miley, Robyn Cruze
Where to Watch: will be available December 12, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: DON’T MIND ME looks like a story you’ve heard before: siblings reunite in the shadow of a painful past and are forced to confront unresolved history. On paper, the plot moves along the kind of narrative audiences know well. George, a career-focused son who has quietly collapsed under professional expectations, returns to his childhood home. Vanessa, his warm but rebellious sister, refuses to let go of the only space that represents their shared identity. What writer/director Isaiah Hoban Halvorsen does differently, though, is redirect the drama away from transformation and toward something murkier — learning to accept that some distances don’t disappear just because people live in the same space again.

The film builds itself around small moments rather than explosive confrontations. The inherited grief of an alcoholic father’s legacy hovers over conversations instead of being delivered through dramatic exposition. Halvorsen chooses the tone of a memory rather than the impact of a family tragedy, shaping scenes around the unspoken words between George and Vanessa. That choice gives the film texture, letting moments play out in real time rather than relying on conflict as a narrative crutch. Even as the story moves through anger, resentment, and years of pent-up disappointment, the scenes feel purposeful rather than staged for effect.

George arrives with a single goal while trying to cover his struggles. Vanessa digs her heels in, defending the home with the stubbornness of someone who believes the place is the last piece of her identity. The dynamic between them begins as resistance, not reconciliation. They irritate each other. But the relationship slowly evolves. They aren’t chasing harmony. They’re rediscovering function — how to exist side by side without demanding the other change first. Halvorsen’s own statement reflects this intent, emphasizing that George and Vanessa “actively embrace their differences” rather than erase them.

The performances anchor the story. Brandon Autry plays George with a subdued frustration, his ambition draining rather than driving him. Jana Miley gives Vanessa a contrasting looseness — an unpolished, impulsive charm that doesn’t hide her vulnerabilities. Her empathy is tangled up with instinct, and Miley leans into the contradictions. The two actors don’t try to force their “family” into sentimental territory. Instead, they let discomfort sit between them until it begins to soften. There’s affection, but it’s shaped by exhaustion and stubbornness rather than nostalgia.

Structurally, DON’T MIND ME moves like a conversation. The film uses its 93-minute runtime to let scenes breathe, which serves its emotional ambitions even if it occasionally stretches. That slow pace reflects the real-time experience of revisiting a childhood home — the surroundings trigger memories. Each small interaction becomes another brick in a fragile reconstruction.

The script also reflects Halvorsen’s personal path into filmmaking. His director's statement frames the film as a product of isolation, career reorientation, and self-repair — a movie built during a period where he re-evaluated his relationships and learned the value of community. That context translates directly to the finished film. It wears its independent origins. The production feels like a collaborative exercise between friends trying to tell a personal story rather than a calling card engineered for festival performance.

If there’s a limitation, it’s that the film occasionally settles into its comfort zone. The structure favors introspection at the expense of variety, leaving stretches of the middle act that feel like circling. While that repetition is appropriate — repeating old patterns is part of George and Vanessa’s problem — it sometimes slows the progression. A handful of choices, especially around the handling of their father’s memory, offer glimpses of deeper exploration without fully committing to them. The film chooses to keep conflict personal and grounded, which works for the characters but narrows the thematic range.

DON’T MIND ME succeeds because it understands the emotion of family. This isn’t a story that promises repair. It argues for something smaller but more meaningful — the ability to coexist with someone who shares your history, even when that history is fractured. George and Vanessa don’t discover a new version of each other. They rediscover the value in simply having someone to lean on, even if nothing is perfect.

As a debut feature, it reveals a filmmaker with clear priorities: character first, vulnerability over exhibition, and a belief that independence can grow through connection rather than isolation. That ethos shapes both the narrative and the production itself, which was built through collaboration with close friends and peers — from the lead performances by Autry and Miley to the crew anchored by producer Ruby Zatz and cinematographer Vann Fulfs. The result is a film that doesn’t just depict community, but was forged through it.

DON’T MIND ME isn’t designed to impress through scale. It expresses something quieter: how hard it is to let go of the place that made you, and how loving someone doesn’t erase the parts of them that hurt you. It’s honest about the limits of reconciliation and treats them with compassion. That honesty is what gives the film its staying power.

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