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SXSW Film Review: American Sons (Andrew James Gonzales, 2025)

Posted on
30 Mar 2025
by
Gary

Marines are trained to go to war, but they aren’t trained to come back from wars. And their families aren’t trained to go to funerals. 

American Sons is a portrait of the times of a single marine, Corporal JV Villarreal, pieced together from his home made videos on tour in Afghanistan. 

There is no secret about the film’s premise, no great reveal, no uplifting moment of clarity. It is brutal, direct, and powerful without ever having to remind you that it is. A scant hour to tell the story of a young life cut short. But it is also 60 minutes to realize there are many who hold his memories true and continue to appreciate his legacy. And those minutes are enough to leave you with a lot of time to ponder the similar tragedies repeated over and again in countless variations, still happening every minute of every day to many veterans and their families.

PrevPreviousSXSW Film Review: Corina (Urzula Barba Hopfner, 2024)
NextSXSW 2025: The RecapNext

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