Emerging from the rich tradition of American road-trip stories by the likes of Jack Kerouac and Hunter S Thompson, My Dad Asked Me What Acid Felt Like by the US director Aric Allen recalls how he stumbled upon his first hits of acid outside a Grateful Dead concert in his aimless, post-high-school days. Allen deploys images of roadmaps and staticky 1980s TV screens to tell the tale, which weaves together how he sold off his dad’s portable television for some LSD and how, years later, his wife would squeeze his knee to prevent him from telling the story at a dinner with his father, thus spoiling a pleasant family meal. Ultimately, the shaky, emotive intonations of Allen’s narration and the lyrical drift of his prose arrive at a somewhat unexpected destination – a touching reflection on love and partnership as a compass for navigating life.
Ethan ponders his daughter’s future without him in this celebrated short
Directed by Ethan Barrett
