Running on Empty
“They chose their lives. Now their son must choose his.”
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind. Their survival is threatened when their eldest son falls in love with a girl, and announces his wish to live his life on his own terms.
A quiet, simmering tension underlies this drama about a family living in hiding. It feels like a hushed conversation, full of unspoken fears and the ache for a life unlived. There's a profound sense of longing for connection and freedom against a backdrop of constant, low-grade dread.
