Synopsis
Last refuge for the forgotten of the American dream, the motel in the USA is home to a whole population of left behind, drifting humans who, from crisis to crisis - economic and personal - have been dispossessed of all.
There are those who have lost everything. There are those who have left everything. Those who have forgotten everything. Those who still dream. Drawn in by daily survival, they all trie to rebuild their life in this precarious nest, at the edge of the world.
Portrait of a disenchanted America. Diving into its abyss.
A word from Tënk
Motels are usually temporary stopping points where we can get away from our daily routines. In this film, the rundown Palace Inn and Roy’s Motel have instead become anchor points for many who have slipped between the threads of an inhumane social safety net, and the complicated starting point for a new and obligatory stage of life. Filmmaker Alexandra Kandy Longuet works with sensitivity to develop a sincere relationship with her subjects, allowing her to tell stories of lives and place that reveal the hidden shadow of the American dream―reminding us that not all people are equal when hard times come knocking. Punctuated with moments of visual poetry that feel like breaths of fresh air, Vacancy exposes the brutal reality of people who have lost everything except their memories and their hope for a better life in dignified housing where they can heal in peace.
Hubert Sabino-Brunette
Teacher and programmer
