SIFF Says: When his adult son blocks him on social media, Chuck (Patton Oswalt) creates a fake online profile and accidentally becomes his son’s internet girlfriend in this family drama/cringe comedy based on the filmmaker’s own true story.

Stranger Says: What would you do to reconnect with your son? Call him every day to check in? Send him money? Pose as a hot girl on the internet and unintentionally become his online girlfriend, winning his trust in the most fucked up way possible? I Love My Dad boldly tries to answer that question. Patton Oswalt plays Chuck, a schlubby divorced dad whose son, Franklin (writer and director James Morosini), just returned home from a psychiatric hospital after trying to commit suicide. Franklin has blocked Chuck on all his social media platforms, digitally forming a boundary between his father and himself. Desperate to reconnect, Chuck catfishes his son by pretending to be "Becca," a hot and sexy fake-person whom lonely Franklin immediately falls for. Somewhat incredibly, the movie is based on the true story of Morosini's real-life father catfishing him—the film even opens with the line, "The following actually happened. My dad asked me to tell you it didn’t." A touching mix of comedy and drama, I Love My Dad took home the Jury and Audience Awards in the Narrative Feature Competition at the 2022 SXSW film festival. This strange-but-sweet family dramedy should be on your list. JAS KEIMIG