#Jenny slate full#

It lets you focus on other things you can control, rather than the giant hugeness of your own outcome.” “It’s a good thing to keep in mind, because it’s a relief. It’s a devastating yet ultimately comforting reminder that “change is the only constant,” Slate says. “But what if everything changes again?” Marcel asks tearfully. His grandma counters, “Don’t use me as an excuse not to live.” 'Elvis': Austin Butler's acting lessons began when Tom Hanks delivered a typewriter to his doorĪs it becomes more apparent that Nana Connie doesn’t have much time left, Marcel considers stopping the search for his family so he can look after her. It’s incredibly painful, and we wanted to be really honest about what that can look like.” “For Nana Connie, she’s just shedding those memories, and that is a type of departure that Marcel has to watch her make. “What happens when you start to separate, even in just your minds?” Slate continues.

#Jenny slate full#

'Marcel and Nana Connie are the only ones (left in the family who) really remember what it was like when their life was full and when it seemed like it would be that way forever. The dementia (storyline) is a good example, because there’s the question of, ‘How do you deal with it when only you and one other person remember this beautiful life that you used to have together?’' she says. “Whatever it is that you don't want to talk about is probably what you should talk about.

With “Marcel,” Slate says she wanted to find a “careful, patient” way to discuss dementia, the realities of which can be difficult for many families to accept and navigate. Marcel never had the chance to say goodbye, so he teams up with a documentary filmmaker (Dean Fleischer-Camp) who’s renting the house to start a social-media campaign to find them.Īs this is happening, Marcel is attempting to care for his increasingly forgetful Nana Connie, who (as he puts it) “has lost a small piece of a very large puzzle.” As her memory fades and she gradually grows weaker, Marcel must come to grips with the fact that he may soon be alone. At the beginning of the movie, we learn that Marcel once had a huge family, but they all mysteriously disappeared one day along with the homeowners. But underneath the seemingly cutesy concept is a much deeper story about community, loss and living with grief.