THE STORY – 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.
THE CAST – N/A
THE TEAM – Michał Marczak (Director)
THE RUNNING TIME – 108 Minutes
As parents, Daniel and Agnieszka sit in their missing son’s bedroom in the haunting documentary “Closure,” she points out that the clock on the wall has stopped working, with time eternally frozen. In many ways, the same can be said about their lives, as director Michał Marczak meticulously captures the never-ending search for their son Krzysztof. Forward progress has almost ceased to exist, and the happy family unit that once was is a thing of the past. But even as efforts seem futile, and the documentary itself loses steam at certain points, they keep marching on. Marczak’s film is a testament to a parent’s unwavering love and their willingness to do whatever it takes to bring their child home.
“Closure” is not your typical documentary in many ways. There are no talking head interviews or an immediate explanation of how this family got to this point. The film also opens in such a cinematic way that you may briefly question whether you’re even watching a documentary. We see crisp shots of FatherFather Daniel walking across a bridge, a camera plunging into the depths of a murky river, and amplified sound work that draws us into the center of all the action. But despite all these Hollywoodized sequences, this is a very real story about a tragic event in one family’s life. Their son, 16-year-old Krzysztof (or Chris), went missing a year ago around Poland’s Vistula River. He stood on the bridge for about 20 minutes, and what happened to him after is a mystery. Did he take his own life by jumping into the water, or did he simply walk off into the distance somewhere?
The authorities haven’t been able to give this family the closure they’ve been seeking, but Daniel isn’t ready to give up. He frequently goes out on his boat to visit various parts of the river, meticulously combing the shallows with a small group of men, all hoping to find any clues that might lead to Chris. He and his wife even analyze their dreams when Chris appears in them, wondering whether there’s something helpful that could aid their search. For the most part, Marczak and his camera blend into any environment he finds himself in, whether it’s the family’s home or on the small speedboat, letting their emotions set the scene. However, he’s still able to capture such interesting angles and shots throughout the film, like the way he scouts out the exact corners from which to film the family in their house, or attaches the camera to the front of the speedboat to give us quite an unsettling view of the water below.
Some viewers may grow tired of Daniel’s repetitive work, and there are certainly moments when this film loses steam. But this isn’t a documentary built on big action moments or dramatic reveals. Instead, it brings you closer to a man who’s hurting. Daniel is quite a moving person to follow in the film because of the emotions he carries. On the one hand, he’s so dedicated to finding his son that he chooses to spend hours in dirty and freezing waters just in case there’s something he missed the last time he looked through that exact same spot. Viewers can feel his desperation and his hopelessness each time one of his searches turns up empty. On the other hand, he recognizes that he can’t keep doing this forever and that his other family members miss him. Even as he tries to let go little by little, we can sense that he’s filled with guilt each time he’s not out on the water. While Marczak focuses heavily on Daniel, he doesn’t spend quite as much time with other family members. We get insights here and there, but they are always in and around Daniel’s presence. We never get to see what Agnieszka’s days look like or how she processes everything that’s happened, which was a missed opportunity.
While much of “Closure” focuses solely on one family, another missing-persons case introduced toward the end of the film offers interesting insights into mental health and young people in Poland. In many ways, the issues impacting youth in the United States, such as loneliness, are present elsewhere in the world. Conversations around mental health are important, but even more so is knowing how exactly to speak with each other and recognize when people may be struggling. Daniel, listening to a podcast in the car, takes to heart that many parents often think they’re doing a good job of this, but more often than not, they’re speaking at their kids. The podcaster says these parents also didn’t have relatives who knew how to communicate properly, which is why the cycle continues. But it’s up to all of us to break that cycle, and one can only hope that the emotional, heartbreaking story in “Closure” encourages people to be there for each other and to hear their loved ones in the moments that matter most.
