Vacancy (2005)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Motel Spell

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Steve Hosford's 52-minute Vacancy is like a great short story, in that the mood and the actions help explain the situation indirectly, and it's all about drifting through the days. Set in the early 1980s during a major financial downturn — where many American families were forced to seek jobs far from home — the film takes place mainly in a grim motel over the course of a summer. Ten year-old Reid (Jordan Anderson) must find ways to fill the endless, empty time while his perpetually tempestuous father (Robert C. Pullman, credited as "Robert Wesley") works at a nearby nuclear power plant, and his mother (Elise Robertson, later in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper) tries to hold things together. He swims and explores, and watches monster movies on TV, and then develops a crush on a slightly older girl, Tiffany (Gina DeVivo), even though he lacks the courage to approach her. Assured and searching, the film effectively captures an intense feeling of loneliness and sweet pathos. It's like a forerunner to Sean Baker's The Florida Project, but less showy, more interior and reflective, and with touching performances. It's currently available to stream on Amazon Prime.