Popular movies like “E.T.,” “Jurassic Park,” “Tintin” and the recent remake of “West Side Story” are adored by many. These movies have very interesting storylines and are considered very well-directed. What some viewers don’t know is the story of the man who directed these films — Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is a fantastic director, who has had a passion for film since he was a young child. 

“The Fabelmans” takes viewers on the journey through a young Spielberg’s life in a semi-autobiographical way — in the film, people’s names are changed, and Spielberg’s own name is swapped for “Sammy Fabelman.” The film opens with Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) as a young child going to his first movie and being absolutely fascinated, and takes viewers all the way through his life as he starts making his own films, while juggling school and family, up until college. Although his father (Paul Dano) brushes it off as one of his son’s hobbies, filmmaking ends up making Sammy Fabelman a world-renowned cinematic genius. 

Within the first few scenes of this movie, I was already sure I was going to thoroughly enjoy it. The storyline was very interesting to me right off the bat.

The casting is absolutely perfect. The actor who plays older Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) does an amazing job with the role. Sammy’s character has so many emotions, and the actor succeeded in making each one realistic. Sammy’s mother is played by Michelle Williams, who does a fantastic job of capturing the character’s depression. We see a lot of when she is having conflicted feelings about Sammy’s father, played by another exceptional actor, Paul Dano.

“The Fabelmans” has a variety of settings, due to Sammy’s father having to move around a few times for his work. It begins in New Jersey, where Steven Spielberg originally grew up, but then leads us to Arizona and then, ultimately, California. I thought it was interesting to watch a movie that is shot in different places, as you can see new settings and new characters in each new location. 

 As a teenager, Sammy faces many issues in high school, such as bullying and an extreme amount of antisemitism. Watching scenes where Sammy is being tormented felt emotional, and the antisemitic comments were unfortunately very realistic. In my opinion, the movie was able to show Sammy’s loss of confidence while this went on, and as I watched the film I was anxious to see what would happen next. While all of this is happening at school, teenage Sammy’s home life isn’t looking too great either. Conflicted feelings going on throughout his family are the center of the drama of the movie, and this affects his life drastically. 

Overall, I really enjoyed watching this movie. Watching an autobiographical film about a director that I adore was a really cool experience. The actors were perfect for each role, and the movie did a really good job of moving through the characters’ lives at a perfect pace. 

“The Fablemans:” ★★★★★