Rather the film is best when it’s austere. This is a complicated story of teenagers navigating their bodies and wants in a society that doesn’t see their sense of introspection as worthwhile, in fact, it often labels it demonic. Sikharulidze eloquently expresses these obstacles through a visual language that plays as strict and classical, relying on his actors to fill the emotion of the scenes. In his debut performance, Chachua is up to the task. There is something brittle about the actor, a kind of vulnerability lurking behind a stoicism that makes you believe that one warm hug might cause him to crumble. “Panopticon” ends on such a collapse, intentionally composed to be a kind of revelation under the shadow of young adulthood for a poignant, knotty debut that manages to both challenge and startle the viewer.      

Dutch writer/director Peter Hoogendoorn’s “Three Days of Fish,” is a stirring picture of male vulnerability. While the director’s debut feature “Between 10 And 12” was inspired by the tragic death of his sister, this film was influenced by the director’s fear of losing his father. In it, Gerrie (Ton Kas) is returning to the Netherlands from Portugal for his annual check-up. The 65-year-old Gerrie is battling COPD and is staying with his stepdaughter as he looks to switch over his doctor and dentist to ones based in Portugal where his second wife lives. His son, the quiet, unassuming Dick (Guido Pollemans), however, desperately wants to be with him. 

Gerrie and Dick are two reserved men who find it difficult to communicate what they want from the other. It’s clear Dick wants some affection from Gerrie. He’s just too afraid to ask. Instead Dick aims to do mundane tasks with his dad—visit the doctor and dentist, and say ‘hello’ to an old work buddy—just to be around him for any length of time. The only specific activity Dick wants to do is visit his deceased grandmother’s former home, a request the busy Gerrie initially balks at. 

Shot in gorgeous black and white, the kind that fully translates the gray feelings father and son have for each other—”Three Days of Fish” can sometimes come off as slight. The only world that exists is the one between these two men, leaving Gerrie’s stepdaughter and her family severely underwritten. Still, the sturdy performances by Kas and Pollemans land the subtle, purposefully awkward grace notes that compose their characters’ hushed relationship. By the final shot, which takes the romantic train station adieu and flips it on its head, the tacit acknowledgement that father and son want to embrace one another is enough to make you want to immediately call your dad or your child—rendering “Three Days of Fish” a nourishing familial meal.