If you already saw Stories We Tell and loved it, stop reading this review and immediately see Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, which is way better though the story is completely different then read the book. Both are documentaries by Canadians that find interesting and alternative ways to frame a narrative and tell a story.
Stories We Tell cares more about the nature of storytelling than the actual story even though the actual story has extremely personal consequences to the filmmaker, Sarah Polley. Stories We Tell examines who tells the story, how the story is told, the well-crafted or haphazard way that important information arises, who has the right to tell or know the story.
There was a point when I became bored with Stories We Tell. The actual story would not be so shocking if it did not involve performers or artists whose job is to convincingly portray one thing while actually being another and how that skill is applied in daily life. This family’s story happens every day just for some reason people try to hide it. Maybe I am not riveted because I am a lawyer who hears these stories every day. Is that all that happened? It is completely normal albeit unfortunate in the way that alienated people from themselves and others.