Long Way Back Home

Long Way Back Home is a beautifully shot music video starring Michael Shannon trying to track down his character’s lost siblings. Via Short of the Week:

Our music video channel here on Short of the Week has been somewhat barren of late. It’s not the we don’t love a good MV (we really do), but we decided sometime ago to only focus on the ones that were either narratively strong or innovative and pioneering. Jeff Nichols’ (yep “that” Jeff Nichols) eight-minute video Long Way Back Home, for his Brother Ben’s band Lucero, isn’t exactly the most groundbreaking thing you’ll see in 2018, but what it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for with its unmistakable quality.

Narratively and structurally, Long Way Back Home doesn’t add anything new to the music video form. It’s essentially a four-minute dialogue-free piece bookended with two scenes of character interaction. However, Nichols does a great job (as you would expect from a director of his quality) of building character and backstory in the video’s sub eight-minute run-time.

Supported by a stellar cast, including Michael Shannon, Scoot McNairy and Paul Sparks, the narrative follows a brother returning to town, eager to track down his younger siblings. It’s a moody, atmospheric piece that’s quick to hook you in, but if you’re looking for a strong narrative conclusion you might be a little disappointed with this one, as Nichols was eager to leave things open-ended.