Directed by Kit Vincent, faced with a terminal diagnosis, a filmmaker (Vincent) enlists his family on a journey to help them come to terms with his illness.
In this day and age, we’re only just getting to grips with the idea of actually talking about death and Red Herring dives full force into that conversation. It’s always been a taboo, when discussing it can help with processing the experience emotionally, both for a person with terminal illness and their family. With this documentary, Kit Vincent attempts to aid his parents along on this journey, to push them in the right direction to face his diagnosis. In doing so, he creates this charmingly blunt and compassionate atmosphere.
It sounds contradictory but there’s a gentle forcefulness to the way that Vincent approaches the film, he’s taking on a kind and generous task but not going to let anyone hide away from it. He brings this unfiltered quality which is disarming and has a surprising sense of humour. It journeys through some genuinely difficult moments but also creates a lovingly open conversation which is touching to watch.
One of the best things it achieves is discussing religion, it can be a difficult thing to put naturally in a film, often feeling shoehorned or preaching. Here, it explores the idea of how people relate to different religions, studying their ideologies and how you can connect with them to help you understand your experiences.
There’s also of course a huge dose of sadness running throughout the film, though it never entirely loses hope and it has a defiantly logical, calm and collected quality. Ultimately, Red Herring draws you in with how willing and generous Kit Vincent is in sharing his world, and to do so in such an utterly organic and blunt manner. Everything about it is straightforward and assured, it shows the need to have these difficult conversations and how relationships can be richer for them.
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