Director: Michał Marczak
Star: Daniel Dymiński
Synopsis: After his teenage son goes missing, Daniel scours the depths of the Vistula River, torn between the dread of a fatal leap and the hope that his son may still be alive.
Daniel Dymiński has lost his son, Krzysztof (or Chris), since May 27, 2023. He went missing on that day. No one knows whether he is alive or dead, but the probability of the latter is much higher than any other theory. Daniel is convinced that his son would never commit suicide. “It’s just not him,” he and his wife Agnieszka repeat constantly throughout Michał Marczak’s devastating Closure, which showcases the father attempting to find this titular world by searching the vast Vistula River, a known site for suicide attempts in Poland, and where Chris was last seen.
It is very likely that Chris committed suicide. He stood on a bridge for twenty minutes and disappeared when the CCTV system was not looking. It might be possible that he left, as one of his friends tests this theory, and created a life somewhere else, but that doesn’t explain why he would suddenly depart from his home. None of it does. In any event, Daniel is determined to find closure and creates various gadgets that let him safely explore the river in search of clues that might have led to his son’s disappearance, but he instead finds things far more disturbing than he imagined.
Marzak’s documentary is deliberately paced. The bulk of it consists of observing Daniel, in a relatively delusional (but broken) state, trying to find his son. He knows he’s probably dead. He knows it may be impossible to find his remains in a river that seems endless and hard to navigate. But does that stop him from conceiving contraptions to film underwater and find new angles so he can ensure no stone is left unturned? Absolutely not. As Marzak shows us the bevy of formats Daniel uses to find Chris, the film takes a different shape of its own. Its visual language is incredibly polished. Maybe too polished for a documentary, but it allows great immersion into a mind that seems horribly tormented by a soul-crushing, devastating loss and by trying to make the most of his life with Agnieszka and his remaining children.
Marzak never judges him, though he does at times intervene when asked to. It breaks the very foundation of the invisible eye of vérité filmmaking, but the director doesn’t try to seek the truth. He only wants to observe someone he deeply respects doing a selfless act he knows is futile. Daniel’s father knows it too, helping his son, but hoping that he stops this madness and moves on, for his and his family’s sake. But is it truly mad? After all, no one knows the pain of losing a child more than the parents.
I hope no one has to deal with it, because reckoning with it is more than challenging. Ross McElwee made an entire documentary where he attempted to understand himself after his son’s death, and it might be the most devastating, soul-crushing piece of filmmaking you will watch all year. Marzak’s Closure might not have the same emotional potency as Remake, but it doesn’t need to, because the search for Chris is still ongoing. That said, it’s still hard to watch Daniel repeatedly perform the same task, even if Marzak’s approach doesn’t try to go deeper than what he’s filming.
At some point, that strategy can feel repetitive, especially when it takes time before we see different sides of Daniel as he begins to remember what matters most in his life, but it leads to a sequence of pure, harrowing power. A scene that feels so simply executed but represents years of emotional baggage that it won’t be long before you begin to view the movie with a bubble of tears in your eyes. Marzak visits Chris’ room. It’s still organized. None of them have done anything to it. A bunch of Star Wars memorabilia sits near the window, including a Rogue One poster and a Christmas Tree music box.
We don’t spend much time in the room because it overflows with so many memories of their son. But we understand why Daniel is still out there, trying to obtain closure. Even if, since the documentary’s release, his operation has been reduced to a monthly search instead of a daily one, his resolve will remain unwavering and will never stop until the bitter end. The last glimmer of hope he has that his son is still alive will carry with him for the rest of his life, and it’s an endeavor all of us must respect, because no one wants to know what it’s like to lose the person we love the most, especially at such a young age. The thought of it is simply horrifying. Living it is even worse.
