DAD & STEP-DAD is the first full form version of director Tynan DeLong’s three shorts that have been in the works since 2018. The story of a father, Jim, trying to enjoy a weekend trip in a cabin with his son, Branson, ex-wife, Suzie, and the stepfather, Dave. Jim just wants to feel connected to his boy, and Dave seems to be a little too cool, constantly one upping him in Branson’s eyes. We’ve seen it before: stepparent doesn’t try but is still cooler than the biological one. But have we seen it with both dads looking eerily similar? I don’t think we have.
The film starts with these beautiful shots of nature, holding each frame long enough to really capture everything. They feel like something you’d watch on a nature channel, or a YouTube video to fall asleep to. This opening scene really sets the stage for just how beautiful the movie is. Jim (Colin Burgess) and Branson (Brian Fiddyment) pull up to their weekend destination and immediately Jim wants to take in that nature. He asks his son to “take a selfie” and then poses for photos, offering the strength of his outfit as justification for his repeated request: cargo shorts and one of those polos that’s marketed as a “cooling shirt” with a texture that haunts you forever—the ultimate dad fit if you will.
Dave (Anthony Oberbeck) joins them outside, explaining that his job requires full body views during Zoom calls. Then he and Jim riff, and riff, and riff, and…riff. This is where it started to sink in for me: this movie has the power to be a long form 2020s version of things like I Think You Should Leave. Absurdist humor is truly a gift and making it quotable just adds to it. Dave and Jim talk about how Suzie (Clare O’Kane) is running late, and then go inside to go about their days, setting up and unpacking. While inside, more riffing happens—they even call themselves squad goals—and in the background, Branson is just dropping kitchen knives. No explanation behind it, no concern from the two men that have spent fifteen minutes overprotecting him, just knives hitting the floor over and over again. The sound is fantastic in this movie. They mix it so well and evenly.
As things continue, we find out Jim’s job is “graphics” design and he creates the designs on paper cups. Dave’s job is replacement gym parts. Replacement Jim…parts. Both dads are guitar players; Jim more rigid and jazz influenced, with Dave playing it loose. They both play and have Branson freestyle for them. He gives us a few solid lines and immediately Jim looks concerned. After this plays out, Branson gets a quick lesson and learns the E chord, and Dave has a phone call with Suzie about how he shouldn’t be at the cabin and they should spend some time apart. All the while, Jim keeps hushing his son so he can creep in and catch what’s happening with the call.
The dads spend some time out in the sun with Branson. Jim and Branson play with something like a long-range Frisbee and Dave acts as grill master. One single round of that super Frisbee and the baby goes flying out of sight. As Jim tries to take over the grill, he and Dave have to duke out who really knows what’s best. Charcoal or propane, high or low heat, and most importantly, how Branson likes his hot dogs (boiled, it turns out). Branson then eats his dog without a bun, squirting mustard on it, bite after bite. Jim eats the crispy, maybe even burnt, dog he made for his son and again we get that great sound as this poor man tries to swallow what sounds like a mouthful of rocks.
The night comes to an end, and when Jim wakes up, he sees what feels like five minutes of Dave just assaulting a tree. Really getting out that feeling of loss upon his fight with Suzie. The two dads link up in the kitchen and Jim tries asking how Dave is, who is totally fine by the way. Dave is so fine that he’s spilling orange juice all over the table and completely missing the glass. But! There’s a great breakfast spread, and it’s gonna be a good day. Meanwhile, Branson has entered minute 45 of his shower and Jim needs to charge his cell phone. The dad proceeds to climb on top of a table and let his phone charge with the open outlet, which is 8+ feet in the air. The dangling phone charges while it spins, showing off his Lock Screen, a beautiful photo of his son.
After Branson’s shower, the dads have a talk about sex, and bodies, and when it’s okay to sexualize a fox drawing, even if there’s a drowning person in the background. There’s some good bonding in the form of bird watching too, and the three come back to find that Suzie has arrived. She was kind enough to bring some cream for Jim’s feet, but he’s got a new outlook on life thanks to his toe shoes. Dave’s continued presence is unwelcome, though, and while he and Suzie argue, Branson goes “missing”.
The dads go looking for the number one boy, and wind up getting lost in the woods. During this time, Suzie and Branson have a good talk about sexuality, and what’s normal. Suzie says she wouldn’t want a son who is cheugy, and that’s probably the first time that word has ever been in a film. The dads stay lost in the woods overnight and have a really good heart to heart about what it means to be a father. That moment really solidifies the two as friends, and more importantly, dads. The dads and Branson are re-connected, and Dave packs up to go home while Jim and his son play a game and connect. As Dave gets ready to leave, he and Jim talk about spending time with Branson together, furthering that sometimes it takes two dads to raise a kid. DAD & STEP-DAD really solidifies what parenting, and more specifically fatherhood, is. The improv comedy works so well here, and lends the movie the potential to be as endlessly quotable a bonding experience as something like STEP BROTHERS, or even MTV’s The State. I highly recommend watching this great time, maybe even with your own dad. Let its absurdity and comfort slide onto you like a weather-wick polo. You deserve it.
Tags: Anthony Oberbeck, Brian Fiddyment, Clare O'Kane, Colin Burgess, Dad & Step-Dad, I Think You Should Leave, Step Brothers, The State, Tynan DeLong
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