Color Book at SIFF: C’Mon A24, C’Mon Neon
Color Book (2025)
Directed by David Fortune
Starring William Catlett and Jeremiah Alexander Daniels
As seen at the 51st annual Seattle International Film Festival
It is a journalistic risk to start a review for a current film by immediately bringing up a film from the past as a comparison. It could be perceived as labeling the current film as a mere homage—or, even worse, a copycat of its predecessor. So let me get this out of the way: Color Book (2025), the first feature-length film from David Fortune, is not an homage or copycat of my favorite film of 2021.
C’mon C’mon (2021) — the best film of that year — shares similarities with Color Book. Both are black-and-white films that focus on the shimmery silver and grey tones more than the stark blacks and whites. Both are shot in academy ratio (1.37:1). Both feature an out-of-his-element adult taking care of a charming, precocious child. Both feature themes of loss, responsibility and unconditional love. Both are near perfect.
William Catlett plays Lucky, who is tasked with being a single parent after the death of his wife. The film doesn’t beat you over the head with exposition as to the hows and whys of her death. It also doesn’t add an unwanted layer of mystery involving her parting. As viewers, we are able to sit uncomfortably in the mourning—both with Catlett’s Lucky and young Mason, played by Jeremiah Alexander Daniels in his first role. The dialogue feels painfully authentic and is triumphant at the same time it is heartbreaking. I was rooting for this pair to overcome and thrive. So much so that when life keeps throwing curveballs at them, I wanted to scream, “Dear God, give them a break!”
Speaking of God, the scenes where the father prays and the son repeats the prayer clue us in on Lucky’s state of mind more than his level of faith. Lucky is desperate; the inner turmoil of his wife’s passing has him grasping. Maybe for religion, maybe for a closer connection to friends—but most of all, for an understanding of his son. Catlett’s face exudes sadness yet resolve, and Jeremiah Alexander Daniels’ face exudes sadness yet wonderment. Both have lost the most important person in their lives, and we see this up close and personal. The choice of numerous close-ups from first-time director David Fortune could have gone awry and veered this film into pandering melodrama. The combination of precise editing and a barebones script keeps it well away from those pitfalls.
Unlike the third act of C’mon C’mon, Color Book leans into suspense and anxiety, and this choice helps quicken not only the pace of the film but the bond between father and son that is needed for this pair to forge on and thrive. Color Book, the first feature-length film from David Fortune, is not an homage or copycat of Mike Mills’ A24 film, but I do hope that it will share something with C’mon C’mon—distribution from a company that champions writer-directors with unique visions and, even more importantly, a wide release. No better place to see the silver tones of a black-and-white film in academy ratio than on the silver screen.