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A troubled young boy, Oskar, is trying to cope with the loss of his father. Oskar starts lashing out at his mother and the world. Until a year later, he discovers a mysterious key in his father's belongings and embarks on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock, just as he used to when his father β¦ was alive. On this journey he is bound to meet a lot of people and learn a lot about himself and his family, but will he ever find the lock? (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | autismgriefdeath of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipparent child relationshipself inflicted injurysingle motherboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | year 20012000s |
Story: | self developmentbroken vasetambourine9 year oldswing setasperger's syndromemysterious strangerpost september 11 2001lockriddlebereavementmessageworld trade center manhattan new york cityloss of husbandloss of son β¦mutechild's point of viewgrandfathermourningquestanswering machinerevelationgrandmotherloss of fatherkeysearchno opening creditschildmapsubwaymanhattan new york citylielettervoice over narrationbased on novelflashback (See All) |
The husband of aviation engineer Kyle Pratt has just died in Berlin. Now she is flying back to New York with his coffin and their six-year-old daughter Julia. Three hours into the flight Kyle awakens to find that Julia is gone! It's a big double-decker plane, so very concerned mother has a lot of te β¦rritory to cover in order to find her daughter. But as Kyle fights to discern the truth, she takes matters into her own hands. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherfeardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | single motherboyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationship |
Story: | loss of husbandloss of fathersearchchildsubwaylieflashback |
After causing a loss of almost one billion dollars in his company, the shoe designer Drew Baylor decides to commit suicide. However, in the exact moment of his act of despair, he receives a phone call from his sister telling him that his beloved father had just died in Elizabethtown, and he should b β¦ring him back since his mother had problem with the relatives of his father. He travels in an empty red eye flight and meets the attendant Claire Colburn, who changes his view and perspective of life. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherfuneraldeath |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | loss of husbandmourningloss of fathermapvoice over narrationflashback |
On January 23, 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is to fly from Karachi to Dubai with his pregnant wife, Mariane, also a reporter. On the day before, with great care, he has arranged an interview in a cafe with an Islamic fundamentalist cleric. When Danny doesn't return, Mariane initia β¦tes a search. Pakistani police, American embassy personnel, and the FBI examine witnesses, phone records, e-mails, and hard drives. Who has him? Where is he? There's also the why: because of U.S. abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo, because of a history of Journal cooperation with the CIA, because Pearl is a Jew? Through it all, Mariane is clearheaded, direct, and determined. (Read More)
Themes: | grieffeardeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | world trade center manhattan new york cityloss of husbandmourningsearchmanhattan new york cityvoice over narrationflashback |
Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However, pressing this β¦ button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world, someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity. (Read More)
Themes: | death |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | mysterious strangermessagerevelationkeyno opening creditschildmapletter |
Manuela is a hard-working single mom who has raised her son Esteban by herself since the time he was born. On his 17th birthday they go to the theater and after the show, Esteban tries to get the main actress' autograph but is run down on the street and dies. Manuela is beside herself with grief and β¦ decides to return to Barcelona to tell the boy's transgender father Lola, about the death of the son he never knew he had. He is nowhere to be found but Manuela does find an old friend, Agrado and meets up with a pregnant nun, Rosa. Together they form a life and become fast friends - until tragedy strikes again. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | grieffuneraldeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | single motherhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | loss of sonmourninglielettervoice over narrationflashback |
Arthur is a spirited ten-year old whose parents are away looking for work, whose eccentric grandfather has been missing for several years, and who lives with his grandmother in a country house that, in two days, will be repossessed, torn down, and turned into a block of flats unless Arthur's grandfa β¦ther returns to sign some papers and pay off the family debt. Arthur discovers that the key to success lies in his own descent into the land of the Minimoys, creatures no larger than a tooth, whom his grandfather helped relocate to their garden. Somewhere among them is hidden a pile of rubies, too. Can Arthur be of stout heart and save the day? Romance beckons as well, and a villain lurks. (Read More)
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | child's point of viewgrandfathergrandmotherkeyvoice over narrationbased on novel |
The story of a charismatic young Irish guitarist and a sheltered young cellist who have a chance encounter one magical night above New York's Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, August Rush, orphaned by circumstance. Now performing on the streets of New York β¦and cared for by a mysterious stranger, August uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth. (Read More)
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | boymother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | mysterious strangerchild's point of viewsearchsubwaymanhattan new york citylievoice over narrationflashback |
Soon after moving in, Beth, a brainy, beautiful writer damaged from a past relationship encounters Adam, the handsome, but odd, fellow in the downstairs apartment whose awkwardness is perplexing. Beth and Adam's ultimate connection leads to a tricky relationship that exemplifies something universal: β¦ truly reaching another person means bravely stretching into uncomfortable territory and the resulting shake-up can be liberating. (Read More)
Themes: | autismdeath of fatherfuneralfear |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationship |
Story: | asperger's syndromemessageanswering machinemanhattan new york citylievoice over narration |
Dr. Joe Darrow is a recently widowed doctor. He is grieving due to the death of his pregnant wife in a Red Cross mission in Venezuela. Although being atheist, he began to believe that his dead wife wants to communicate with him, through her young patients in the Pediatrics of a Chicago hospital.
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | grieffuneralfeardeath |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | answering machinerevelationmapflashback |
Medical students begin to explore the realm of near death experiences, hoping for insights. Each has their heart stopped and is revived. They begin having flashes of walking nightmares from their childhood, reflecting sins they committed or had committed against them. The experiences continue to int β¦ensify, and they begin to be physically beaten by their visions as they try and go deeper into the death experience to find a cure. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | death of fatherfeardeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | boy |
Story: | tambourineswing setloss of husbandanswering machinerevelationloss of fathersubwayflashback |
In the end of the Nineteenth Century, in London, Robert Angier, his beloved wife Julia McCullough and Alfred Borden are friends and assistants of a magician. When Julia accidentally dies during a performance, Robert blames Alfred for her death and they become enemies. Both become famous and rival ma β¦gicians, sabotaging the performance of the other on the stage. When Alfred performs a successful trick, Robert becomes obsessed trying to disclose the secret of his competitor with tragic consequences. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | grieffuneralfeardeath |
Characters: | self inflicted injuryboyhusband wife relationship |
Story: | lockmourningrevelationno opening creditslettervoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
Brian Lackey is determined to discover what happened during an amnesia blackout when he was eight years old, and then later woke with a bloody nose. He believes he was abducted by aliens, and N. McCormick, a fellow player on Brian's childhood baseball team, may be the key as to exactly what happened β¦ that night. As Brian searches for the truth and tries to track him down, Neil McCormick takes up hustling and moves to New York, in attempts to forget childhood memories that haunt him. Together, the two of them uncover the terrible truth of the scars they share. (Read More)
Themes: | grief |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | single motherboyfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | swing setchild's point of viewrevelationkeysearchchildsubwaylettervoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
Forty-year-old Christine Lucas wakes up in bed with a man she does not know, in an unfamiliar house. The man explains that he is her husband, Ben, and that she suffered brain damage from a car accident ten years earlier. Christine wakes up every morning with no memory of her life from her early twen β¦ties onwards. Christine receives treatment from Dr. Nasch, a neurologist at a local hospital who provides her a camera to record her thoughts and progress each day, and calls her every morning to remind her to watch the video in the camera. Soon, she starts to discover the truth around her. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | grieffear |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationship |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | loss of sonrevelationkeysearchno opening creditslieletterbased on novelflashback |
Grief, recovery, and human contact. Brian is a great guy - a sweet father, a good husband, and a loyal friend to his boyhood pal Jerry who's a junkie. When tragedy strikes, Jerry tries to help Brian's wife and children cope, and Audrey, Brian's widow, tries to help Jerry kick the habit. Loss and add β¦iction are stubborn. The story starts on the day of the funeral, with Brian appearing in flashbacks. A neighbor's divorce, a dinner party that includes a young woman from the Narcotics Anonymous group Jerry attends, and thinking back to a fire in Brian and Audrey's garage give the story texture. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | grieffuneraldeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | loss of husbandloss of fatherletterflashback |
After winning a custody battle for her daughter, Yoshimi tries to make a new start. The apartment she moves into seems perfect at first. Soon though, strange things begin happening. Huge water stains appear on the ceiling and drip constantly, more liquid oozing into the rooms every day. She calls th β¦e landlord in but he refuses to do anything about it. A child's red bag shows up in odd places and soon the child herself starts appearing. Yoshimi then discovers the origin of the ghost... (Read More)
Themes: | fear |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | parent child relationshiphusband wife relationship |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | answering machinechildbased on novelflashback |
Malena is about the peril of a beauty through the eyes of a 12 year old kid named Renato. He experiences three things on the same day, beginning of war, getting a bike and sees the arrival of Malena in town. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is pres β¦umed to be dead, and through his soul we see his love for her. (Read More)
Themes: | grieffuneraldeath |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | loss of husbandmourningkeylielettervoice over narration |
When Henry DeTamble meets Clare Abshire in a Chicago library they both understand that he is a time traveler, but she knows much more about him as he has not yet been to the times and places where they have already met. He falls in love with her, as she has already with him, but his continuing unavo β¦idable absences while time traveling - and then returning with increasing knowledge of their future - makes things ever more difficult for Clare. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | death of father |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | loss of husbandloss of fatherno opening creditssubwaybased on novel |
Christian Wolff is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King, star β¦ting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. (Read More)
Themes: | autismdeath of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | asperger's syndromemuteloss of fatherno opening creditsletterflashback |
Los Angeles, 1928. A single mother returns from work to find her nine-year-old son gone. She calls the LAPD to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description; he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the LAPD reunite mother and son, but she insists he's β¦ not her boy. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the police, they in turn use government power to silence and intimidate her. Meanwhile, a cop goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power? (Read More)
Themes: | grieffeardeath |
Characters: | single motherboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationship |
Story: | loss of sonsearchno opening creditslievoice over narrationflashback |
A love story and murder mystery based on the most notorious unsolved murder case in New York history. The original screenplay uses newly discovered facts, court records and speculation as the foundation for a story of family, obsession, love and loss.
Themes: | feardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | swing setanswering machinesearchsubwaymanhattan new york cityflashback |
A psychic doctor, John Clancy (Sir Anthony Hopkins), works with an F.B.I. Special Agent (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in search of serial killer Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell). After having lived in isolation for two years, since the death of his daughter, Clancy is asked by his friend Joe, an F.B.I. Speci β¦al Agent to help him solve several murders committed by a serial killer. The problem is that Ambrose is also psychic, and far ahead of Clancy. (Read More)
Themes: | death of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | searchno opening creditssubwayletterflashback |
On September, 11th 2001, after the terrorist attack to the World Trade Center, the building collapses over the rescue team from the Port Authority Police Department. Will Jimeno and his sergeant John McLoughlin are found alive trapped under the wreckage while the rescue teams fight to save them.
Themes: | death |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | year 20012000s |
Story: | world trade center manhattan new york citysubwaymanhattan new york cityvoice over narrationflashback |
Anna is a young widow who is finally getting on with her life after the death of her husband, Sean. Now engaged to be married, Anna meets a ten-year-old boy who tells her he is Sean reincarnated. Though his story is both unsettling and absurd, Anna can't get the boy out of her mind. And much to the β¦concern of her fiance, her increased contact with him leads her to question the choices she has made in her life. (Read More)
Themes: | grieffuneraldeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | mourningmanhattan new york citylieflashback |
Julieta (Emma Suarez) is a middle-aged woman living in Madrid with her boyfriend Lorenzo. Both are going to move to Portugal when she casually runs into Bea, former best friend of her daughter Antia, who reveals that this one is living in Switzerland married and with three children. With the heart b β¦roken after 12 years of total absence of her daughter, Julieta cancels the journey to Portugal and she moves to her former building, in the hope that Antia someday communicates with her sending a letter. Alone with her thoughts, Julieta starts to write her memories to confront the pain of the events happened when she was a teenager (Adriana Ugarte) and met Xoan, a Galician fisherman. Falling in love with him, Julieta divides her time between the family, the job and the education of Antia until a fatal accident changes their lives. Slowly decaying in a depression, Julieta is helped by Antia and Bea, but one day Antia goes missing suddenly after a vacation with no clues about where to find her, leaving Julieta desperate to understand the reasons of her missing... (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherfeardeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | single motherhusband wife relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | 9 year oldloss of husbandloss of sonloss of fathersearchletterflashback |
A romantic drama set in New York City during the summer of 2001, where Tyler, a rebellious young man, meets Ally through a twist of fate. Her spirit helps him heal after a family tragedy, though soon the circumstances that brought them together threaten to tear them apart.
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | death |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | mother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | year 20012000s |
Story: | world trade center manhattan new york citysubway |
United Press International journalist Will Bloom and his French freelance photojournalist wife Josephine Bloom, who is pregnant with their first child, leave their Paris base to return to Will's hometown of Ashton, Alabama on the news that his father, Edward Bloom, stricken with cancer, will soon di β¦e, he being taken off chemotherapy treatment. Although connected indirectly through Will's mother/Edward's wife, Sandra Bloom, Will has been estranged from his father for three years since his and Josephine's wedding. Will's issue with his father is the fanciful tales Edward has told of his life all his life, not only to Will but the whole world. As a child when Edward was largely absent as a traveling salesman, Will believed those stories, but now realizes that he does not know his father, who, as he continues to tell these stories, he will never get to know unless Edward comes clean with the truth before he dies. On the brink of his own family life beginning, Will does not want to be the kind of father Edward has been to him. One of those stories from Edward's childhood - that he saw his own death in the glass eye of a witch - led to him embracing life since he would not have to fear death knowing when and how it would eventually come. The question is whether Will will be able to reconcile Edward's stories against his real life, either directly from Edward before he dies and/or from other sources, and thus allow Will to come to a new understanding of himself and his life, past, pβ¦ (Read More)
Themes: | death of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | loss of husbandloss of fatherkeychildlielettervoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her fina β¦l hope - if she can only trust him. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | death of fatherfeardeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationship |
Story: | revelationloss of fathersearchno opening creditsmapvoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
It's 2003. Thirty-eight-year-old graphic artist Oliver Fields has just lost his father Hal Fields to cancer, after Oliver's mother Georgia Fields passed away five years earlier. Oliver is naturally a sullen man due to his growing up relationships with his parents (his mother who had a unique view on β¦ life) and watching his parents' cordial but somewhat distant relationship with each other, but is more so now because of his personal family losses. Oliver embarks on a relationship with Anna, a French actress, hoping that his re-energized relationship with Hal following Georgia's death, and Hal's new outlook on life during that time, will show Oliver how to act in a loving relationship. After Georgia's death, Hal came out of the closet and began to live with a joie de vivre that did not exist before, which included an open relationship with a much younger man named Andy. Oliver's relationship with Anna has other obstacles, including Anna's own vagabond lifestyle and Oliver needing to take care of who was originally Hal's very needy Jack Russell terrier, Arthur. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherdeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | boyhusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | bereavementmourningloss of fatherno opening creditslievoice over narrationflashback |
In February, 2001, Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, is arrested for spying. Jump back two months: Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Hanssen and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation β¦ of Hanssen's sexual habits. Within weeks, the crusty Hanssen, a devout Catholic, has warmed to O'Neill, who grows to respect Hanssen. O'Neill's wife resents Hanssen's intrusiveness; the personal and professional stakes get higher. How they catch Hanssen and why he spies become the film's story. Can O'Neill help catch red-handed "the worst spy in history" and hold onto his personal life? (Read More)
Themes: | death |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | year 20012000s |
Story: | answering machinesearchsubwaylieletterflashback |
A master chef, Kate, lives her life like she runs the kitchen at upscale 22 Bleecker Restaurant in Manhattan--with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. With breathtaking precision, she powers through each hectic shift, coordinating hundreds of meals, prep β¦aring delicate sauces, seasoning and simmering each dish to absolute perfection. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | single motherboyfamily relationships |
Story: | answering machinesearchmanhattan new york citylettervoice over narration |
Betty Anne Waters (Swank) is a high school dropout who spent nearly two decades working as a single mother while putting herself through law school, tirelessly trying to beat the system and overturn her brother's (Rockwell) unjust murder conviction.
Themes: | death of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipsingle motherboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | lieletterflashback |
Escalating events begin when U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome alleges that she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand. With the words "The Teacher will never leave this room alive," in an instant, Silvia's lif β¦e is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller, Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish. As Keller digs deeper into his eyewitnesses' past and her secretive world of global connections, the more suspicious he becomes that she herself might be involved in the conspiracy. With every step of the way, he finds more reasons to mistrust her. Is Sylvia a victim? A suspect? Or something else entirely? And can Tobin, coping with his own personal heartache, keep her safe? Though they must depend on one another, Silvia and Tobin couldn't be more different. Silvia's strengths are words, diplomacy and the subtleties of meaning, while Tobin is all about instinct, action and reading into the most primal human behaviors. Now, as the danger of a major assassination on U.S. soil grows and Silvia's life hangs in the balance, Silvia and Tobin play out a gripping dance of evasion and revelation that keeps them both guessing as they race to stop a terrifying international crisis before it's too late. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherdeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Story: | mourninganswering machinerevelationkeysearchsubwaymanhattan new york citylieletterbased on novelflashback |
Following the tragic death of their five-year-old son Frankie, Irish couple Johnny and Sarah Sullivan and their remaining two offspring, 10 year old Christy Sullivan and 5 year old Ariel Sullivan, emigrate illegally to the United States via Canada with little in their pockets. Their final destinatio β¦n is Manhattan where Johnny hopes to work as a stage actor. They move into a unit in a run town tenement housed primarily with drug addicts, transvestites and one tenant coined "the man who screams". They do whatever they can to eke out a supportive family environment in this difficult situation, the support which ultimately extends to those around them, most specifically "the screamer" who turns out to be an African-American artist named Mateo with AIDS. But the memory of Frankie hangs over the family in good and bad ways, especially as Sarah learns she's pregnant. Christy, who records their life's goings-on with her beloved camcorder, believes that the angel of Frankie has granted her three wishes, which she guards until absolutely needed. (Read More)
Themes: | death |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | parent child relationshiphusband wife relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | loss of sonchild's point of viewmanhattan new york cityvoice over narration |
Themes: | feardeath |
Characters: | boymother son relationship |
Story: | child's point of viewkeysearchno opening creditsmaplettervoice over narrationbased on novel |
Jewish-American writer 'Jonathan Safran Foer' (qv) is a collector of his family's memorabilia, although most of the items, some which he takes without asking, would not be considered keepsakes by the average person. He places most of those items in individual Ziploc bags, and hangs them on his keeps β¦ake wall under the photograph of the person to who it is most associated. He has this compulsion in an effort to remember. He is able to tie a photograph that he receives from his grandmother, Sabine Foer, on her deathbed - it of his grandfather, Safran Foer, during the war in the Ukraine, and a young woman he will learn is named Augustine - back to a pendant he stole from his grandfather on his deathbed in 1989, the pendant of a glass encased grasshopper. Learning that Augustine somehow saved his grandfather's life leads to Jonathan going on a quest to find out the story at its source where the photograph was taken, in a now non-existent and probably largely forgotten town called Trachimbrod that was razed by the Nazis during the war, he armed only with his limited knowledge, the pendant, his grandfather's Star of David necklace, the photograph, tip "money", and an old and largely outdated map. Prior to arriving in the Ukraine, Jonathan prearranges the guide services of Odessa-based Heritage Tours, which specializes in helping Jewish expats discover their past. The company is owned and operated by three generations of the Alexander Perchov family, who generally think Jewish peopleβ¦ (Read More)
Themes: | funeralfeardeath |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | grandfatherquestgrandmothersearchmapvoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
The resolutely single Don Johnston has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry. Don resigns himself to being alone yet again and left to his own devices. Instead, he is compelled to reflect on his past when he receives by mail a mysterious pink letter. It is from an anonymous former lover and i β¦nforms him that he has a 19-year-old son who may now be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate this "mystery" by his closest friend and neighbor, Winston, an amateur sleuth and family man. Hesitant to travel at all, Don nonetheless embarks on a cross-country trek in search of clues from four former flames. Unannounced visits to each of these unique women hold new surprises for Don as he haphazardly confronts both his past and, consequently, his present. (Read More)
Themes: | death of fatherdeath |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | questsearchchildmapletter |
The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician (recently deceased) tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settl β¦e his affairs. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherfuneraldeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | family relationships |
Story: | mourningloss of fathersearchflashback |
Brooklyn, 1988. Crime is rife, especially drugs and drug violence. A Russian thug is building his heroin trade, while everyone laughs at the cops. Brothers have chosen different paths: Joe has followed his father Bert into New York's Finest; he's a rising star. Bobby, who uses his mother's maiden na β¦me, manages a club. Bobby too is on the rise: he has a new girlfriend and a green-light to develop a Manhattan club. Joe and Bert ask him to help with intelligence gathering; he declines. Then, Joe raids Bobby's club to arrest the Russian. From there, things spiral out of control: the Russian puts out a hit on Joe, personal losses mount, and Bobby's loyalties face the test. (Read More)
Themes: | death of fatherfuneralfeardeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshiphusband wife relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | world trade center manhattan new york citysearchno opening creditsmanhattan new york cityflashback |
Lee Chandler is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His brother's heart has given out suddenly, and he's been named guardian to his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his β¦only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren't enough, his return to the past re-opens an unspeakable tragedy. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherfuneraldeath |
Locations: | apartment |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | bereavementloss of fatherflashback |
This urban nightmare chronicles several days in the life of Caine Lawson, following his high-school graduation, as he attempts to escape his violent existence in the projects of Watts, CA.
Themes: | death of fatherfeardeath |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipsingle motherhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | loss of fatherno opening creditsvoice over narrationflashback |
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and β¦journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined. (Read More)
Themes: | grieffuneraldeath |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | loss of husbandmourningsearchvoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
Twelve year old Marcus Brewer lives with his chronically depressed single mother, Fiona Brewer. Both Fiona and Marcus beat to their own respective drummers. Marcus will do whatever he can to make his depressed mother happy, even if it causes himself grief. As such, he realizes that he is perceived a β¦s different than most kids, as even the self-professed weird kids don't want to hang out with him as he is the target of bullying. Part of the taunts against him are the fact that he sings and speaks to himself without even realizing that he is doing it. Meanwhile, thirty-eight year old Will Freeman is a slacker who has lived comfortably off the royalties of a song written by his deceased father, and as such has never had to work a day in his life. He is a solitary man who places himself as the first and only priority in life. He comes across the idea that dating single moms meets his selfish carnal needs. It is in this capacity that Will meets Marcus, as one of Will's single mother conquests, Suzie, is friends with the Brewers. Trying to escape his life but wanting Will to date Fiona, Marcus infiltrates Will's life, much to Will's chagrin. Will slowly begins to realize that Marcus is more than just a nuisance, but rather someone who needs some guidance navigating through the trials of adolescence and the trials of dealing with a suicidal mother, and perhaps he can be a small part of providing that direction. Conversely, Marcus may be able to show Will the path to becoming a real aβ¦ (Read More)
Themes: | grieffear |
Characters: | single motherboymother son relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | tambourinechild's point of viewlielettervoice over narrationbased on novelflashback |
A group of thieves steal a rare gem, but in the process, two of the men double cross the leader of the thieving group, Patrick, and take off with the precious stone. Ten years later, prominent psychiatrist Nathan Conrad is invited to examine a disturbed young woman named Elisabeth. Patrick immediate β¦ly kidnaps Nathan's daughter, forcing Nathan to attempt to get Elisabeth to reveal a secret number which will ultimately lead Patrick to the whereabouts of the precious gem that has eluded him. (Read More)
Themes: | death of fatherfeardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationship |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | revelationloss of fathermapsubwaymanhattan new york citybased on novelflashback |
Alan Johnson has everything he needs to get through life: a good job, a beautiful and loving wife, and their wonderful children. Yet he feels isolated because he finds having a hard-working job and managing a family too much to handle and has no one to talk to about it. Charlie Fineman, on the other β¦ hand, doesn't have a job or a family. He used to have both until a terrible loss, and the grief caused him to quit his job and isolate himself from everyone around him. As it turns out, Alan and Charlie were roommates in college, and a chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared. But when Charlie's problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherdeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | post september 11 2001world trade center manhattan new york citymanhattan new york cityletterflashback |
While undergoing open heart surgery, a man's failed anesthetic leaves him completely alert, but paralyzed and unable to tell his doctors
Themes: | death of fatherdeath |
Locations: | new york city |
Characters: | husband wife relationshipfather son relationshipmother son relationship |
Story: | loss of fathersubwaymanhattan new york citylievoice over narrationflashback |
Earth's future has been riddled by disasters, famines, and droughts. There is only one way to ensure mankind's survival: Interstellar travel. A newly discovered wormhole in the far reaches of our solar system allows a team of astronauts to go where no man has gone before, a planet that may have the β¦right environment to sustain human life. (Read More)
Themes: | griefdeath of fatherdeath |
Characters: | grandfather grandson relationshipfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | grandfatherloss of fatherno opening creditsflashback |
In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfi β¦eld pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to close in on what happened. Major smuggling? A drug deal gone awry? Credit card slips, some photographs, and video clips from Iraq may hold the key. If Hank gets to the truth, what will it tell him? (Read More)
Themes: | grieffeardeath |
Characters: | single motherboyhusband wife relationshipmother son relationshipfather son relationship |
Story: | answering machinekeysearchlieflashback |
Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who's having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment β¦ and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam's life revolves around his friends-Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam's eye. (Read More)
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | boy |
Story: | keychildsubway |
Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. She is currently in the midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occu β¦rrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in the only bedroom. There are also noises coming from the apartment directly above hers, though it would appear to be vacant. Is the apartment haunted or is there a simpler explanation? (Read More)
Themes: | funeralfeardeath |
Locations: | apartmentnew york city |
Characters: | single mother |
Period: | 2000s |
Story: | manhattan new york citybased on novelflashback |