If I Go Will They Miss Me

"He's home again from the Trojan War, like Odysseus." That's what twelve-year-old Lil Ant daydreams when his father, Big Ant, is released from prison. Home is Watts, a neighbourhood in Los Angeles right beneath an airport flight path. The relationship between the two is difficult: the boy longs for more affection from his father, who in turn feels Lil Ant should be more manly. That's not easy, as his son likes to walk around with his head in the clouds, drawing inspiration from Greek mythology. One moment he pictures his father as Poseidon, carried by Pegasus, cutting through the sky; the next, Big Ant and his best friend are wandering about in Greek togas. It's this mildly surreal touch that lifts If I Go Will They Miss Me – the second fiction feature from former American journalist Walter Thompson-Hernández – above the average film about a strained parent-child relationship.