Next of Kin

Atom Egoyan

Twenty-three year old Peter Foster, who still lives at home, used to find it entertaining to hear his parents continually argue in not liking each other very much. He no longer finds the situation entertaining, he coping by sleeping long hours, and retreating into a world of make believe. As Peter has been caught a few times in that fantasy world, his parents decide to deal with it by entering into family counseling, the sessions which are to be videotaped and to be viewed by each individual family member on their own before the subsequent session to view themselves objectively. After the first session, Peter is able to convince the counselor that part of his individual therapy should be to go away for a week, which Mr. Foster gladly pays for for the greater good of the family. Peter is to keep a diary, written or audio recorded, each day of his time away. What Peter really has in mind is to delve deeper into that world of make believe. He has learned of an immigrant family in Toronto, the Deryans - mother and father Sonya and George, and young adult daughter Azah - who are going through their own issues of a diversion of views between George and Azah which is leading to problems in the family dynamic. Peter's plan is to insert himself into the family for the week as Bedros, the son they gave up for adoption out of economic circumstance of the time. In the process, Peter may get a better view of his own family life, with the diary a means to make such an evaluation.—Huggo