Shreds
[Strzępy] directed by Beata Dzianowicz, Poland 2022, 98'
The Pateroks are a loving multigenerational family. They live in Silesia, lead a quiet life and enjoy each other’s company. Suddenly, this harmonious reality starts cracking. Gerard’s behaviour becomes strange: he has memory problems and breaks norms and conventions. Those turn out to be first symptoms of Alzheimer’s. The disease progresses rapidly. The man becomes unpredictable and less and less like himself. His family do their best to help him, but as time goes by, they too begin to succumb to an “illness”. Their relationship is put to the test. Hidden tensions, secrets and resentments come to light. Adam is faced with a dilemma: to share his home with his sick father or look after the wellbeing of his wife and daughter. What will he decide? How much will Alzheimer’s change the Paterok family’s lives? Will it tear them to shreds?
