VIFF -- Review: Tangles

A daughter recounts her mother having Alzheimer's in Tangles 

Tangles (2026)

The screening of Tangles at the Vancouver Playhouse was electric, as a lot of people in the industry were in attendance. That's because the feature-length animation was directed by local Leah Nelson, and a lot of people who worked on it are in the city.

Tangles is based in the graphic memoir Tangles: A Story about Alzheimers, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt who is also in Vancouver and attended the screening. It was her first graphic novel that was published in 2010 and talks about how she discovers her mother has Alzheimers at the age of 55 and how her family deals with it.

Nelson and Leavitt on stage after the screening

Someone at the National Film Board passed Leavitt's graphic novel to Nelson who was excited to put it on the big screen, but not without Leavitt's help.

Tangles is not a totally faithful transcription of the novel, but the essence is there. In 1999, Sarah is trying to establish herself as a graphic designer in San Francisco, and then on a trip home to Maine, she discovers her mother Midge has left the iron on and forgets things, which is very unusual. Sarah tries to get her father and sister to see what's happening, but they seem to be in denial or uninterested.

In the meantime, Sarah has a budding relationship with her biker girlfriend Donimo, while trying to reconcile that her mother, who was a strong, outspoken person, lose her job because of her illness, and then become more quiet.

Sarah looked up to Midge, but now she's lost

But it's not all depressing -- there are moments of sarcasm and outrageousness to lighten the mood, and it's all possible because it's animation. The feature is also in black and white in keeping with the original colour scheme of the novel, though at certain points in the film there are splashes of colour to reveal emotion, like frustration and anger, and core memories.

The animation feature also has some Hollywood talent, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Midge, Samira Wiley is Donimo, Bryan Cranston as Sarah's father, and Seth Rogen as Sarah's sister's boyfriend. Nelson said afterwards that these actors were willing to work on the project because they had all been touched by Alzheimers. 

The family grapples with Midge's diagnosis

Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller Rogen are producers on Tangles, and active fundraisers for their non-profit Hilarity for Charity to raise awareness and fund research towards Alzheimer's disease. Miller Rogen's mother was diagnosed with it when she was 55 years old.

Tangles is a powerful, poignant animation feature that helps explain how Alzheimer's affects not only the person but their loved ones too without being preachy, and instead with a bit of humour and tenderness.

Tangles

Directed by Leah Nelson

102 minutes