Imaginary Heroes

Imaginary Heroes (2004) is a family dramedy you can watch online on iFILM. The Travises look like any comfortable suburban household until their eldest son, the school's star swimmer, takes his own life with no warning. The polished surface cracks overnight.

What follows is one year without him. Sigourney Weaver plays Sandy, the mother, who numbs the hole inside her with anything that works. Jeff Daniels is Ben, the father, who all but stops living, parked by the window in silence. Emil Hirsch is younger son Tim, forced to grow up in a home where everyone hides something. Michelle Williams turns up as a neighbor whose family is tangled with the Travises far more closely than it first appears.

Writer-director Dan Harris made this his feature debut, and he refuses to milk the grief or lecture you on the right way to mourn. The film keeps slipping between sharp comedy and raw hurt, and that awkward mix is exactly what makes it breathe. One for viewers who like small, unglamorous stories about ordinary people. Stream Imaginary Heroes (2004) online on iFILM.