Fantasy Life (2025)

Not a Monarch Kaleidoscope Production

After losing his job as a paralegal, Sam Stein suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters. The girls' mother, Dianne, is an actor whose once-promising career has stalled; she's in a difficult marriage to David, a rock bassist. When David goes abroad on tour, Dianne and Sam discover an easy rapport as well as a shared history of mental illness. Sam joins Dianne's family to babysit for the summer on Martha's Vineyard, and he ends up in a house with the woman he pines for, her husband, the three kids, and all four grandparents, including his psychiatrist.

Format

Narrative Feature Film

Production Companies

HTI Holdings, Made by Limbo, Charlie's Production Company, AC3 Media, & Burn Later Productions

Credits

DIRECTOR/WRITER/EP: Matthew Shear
PRODUCERS: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Philip Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, & Sam Slater
EXEC. PRODUCERS: Greg Field & Alex Field
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Conor Murphy
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Katie Fleming
COMPOSERS: Christopher Bear
EDITOR: Ian Blume
CASTING DIRECTORS: Doug Aibel & Stephanie Holbrook
SOUND DESIGNER: Arjun Sheth

Status

Premiering at SXSW 2025

Cast

Amanda Peet, Matthew Shear, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Jessica Harper, Holland Taylor, Sheng Wang