Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2022 film, The Fabelmans, directed by Stephen Spielberg and starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano.

In 1952, New Jersey, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and Burt (Paul Dano) Fabelman take their young son Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) to his first-ever movie. Dazzled by a scene involving a train crash, Sammy, with encouragement from his mother, attempts to film his own 8mm version using his toy train set.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful and beloved movie directors of all time. His movies drip with sentimentality, nostalgia, and that elusive Hollywood magic. With his tales of whimsy celebrating yesteryear in Indiana Jones, or a collective childhood fantasy in E.T. bathed in the strings of John Williams, Spielberg is an intrinsic part of Hollywood cinematic history and our shared cinema experience.

The Fabelmans, then, is a semi-autobiographical account of the origin of Spielberg’s love of cinema and the family drama that he experienced for over a decade of his young life. The story is revisionist in that it seems Spielberg can’t help but improve on the story of his own life. Captured with the over-stylised tropes of a Spielberg picture, along with some awkward, over-staged acting via a widescreen lens, Spielberg’s family life is easily the least interesting thing about him.

The movie unsurprisingly shines, however, when young Sammy is embracing his love of film with his super-8mm camera, making miniature blockbuster films with his friends, experiencing joy when his films illicit authentic enjoyment from his slowly growing audience.

Verdict: A personal story captured as a blockbuster. Serious fans of Spielberg and his works may get a lot more out of it. 2.5 stars.

• Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net.