The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011) on Netflix
Sidney Johnson is a celebrated poet, a husband and a father in the suburbs. His son Isaiah has abused him since Isaiah was twelve, and Sidney has written a memoir about it.
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- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.0/1013,347 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
The Johnsons live comfortably in the suburbs. Sidney is a poet whose kindness and sensitivity have made him known and admired; Joan keeps the house and enjoys every party; their son Isaiah has just married Marianne. What separates the family from its neighbors is that Isaiah has been molesting Sidney since Isaiah was twelve years old. Sidney has set down the details of that relationship in a memoir called Cocoon Man: Confessions by Sidney Johnson. At Isaiah's wedding, Joan comes upon Isaiah and Sidney together and tries to regain her composure. Isaiah finds the manuscript and warns his father not to print more copies.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Aster called the screenplay "a bit of an uphill battle to make it there politically", saying AFI was an industry school that showed incoming fellows very politically correct Oscar movies, so he asked himself what the worst thing he could make there would be.
- The film garnered controversy for its portrayal of an African-American family by a white filmmaker. Aster responded that the color of the family was not important, and said they had been hesitant, with many people advising them against the decision.
- The short premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah on January 22, 2011 and screened at film festivals that year, before it leaked online in November and went viral.
- Work on the project began during Aster's time at the AFI Conservatory film school, where he made it his thesis film; the idea had arisen from a discussion with some friends about taboo topics in the summer preceding his first year at AFI.
