The Cathedral

An only child's meditative, impressionistic account of an American family's rise and fall over two decades.

A multigenerational family saga in extreme miniature, the new feature from singular American independent director Ricky D'Ambrose is his most refined, emotionally resonant work yet. Slicing across decades with impressionistic precision, The Cathedral tells the formally economical yet engrossing story of the Damrosch family, whose quiet rise and fall is seen through the eyes of its youngest member, Jesse, born in the late 1980s. Using photographs and archival news footage to buttress his oblique drama, D'Ambrose shows how a family's financial and emotional wear and tear can subtly reflect a country's sociopolitical fortunes and follies.