Synopsis
When Natalia (28) was eight years old, her 24-years old brother died in a frontal car crash near their family home in the village of Psary, Poland. Bartek was blamed for causing the accident, and the family was never allowed to see his body. Natalia’s mother, Wanda (63), suspected the selling of Bartek’s organs for profit and a police cover-up of safeguarding the other driver, an ex-policeman and a son of a prosecutor. Natalia grew up with a mother who was consumed by a ten-year-long and unsuccessful legal battle to prove Bartek’s innocence, which coincided with the bankruptcy of the family’s rose nursery.
Twenty years later, as a filmmaker, Natalia returns to Poland and sees how her mother, father Henryk, and sister Zuza keep each other in a frozen state of mourning. To end this, Natalia wants to find out what happened to Bartek and fulfill her mother’s wish to confront the other car’s driver. She asks Wanda to perform her version of the truth to restart this quest. Wanda recites a PowerPoint presentation in her home office with 12 slides listing her accusations about the police, prosecutors, forensic medics, and villagers’ gossip. But when Natalia contacts these people for answers, she quickly starts doubting the reliability of her mother.
While playing with the conventions of a true-crime investigation, the workings of a conspiratorial mind are unmasked. Set as a psychological experiment unfolding on screen, Natalia makes Wanda watch the responses from people who approve and disapprove of her accusations, as well as acquaintances who have received messages from Bartek’s ghost.
From a ghostly tale on the malleability of truth, "Insurance Against Meteorites" gradually transforms into a daughter’s bittersweet love letter to her mother’s self-harming way of coping with loss.
Twenty years later, as a filmmaker, Natalia returns to Poland and sees how her mother, father Henryk, and sister Zuza keep each other in a frozen state of mourning. To end this, Natalia wants to find out what happened to Bartek and fulfill her mother’s wish to confront the other car’s driver. She asks Wanda to perform her version of the truth to restart this quest. Wanda recites a PowerPoint presentation in her home office with 12 slides listing her accusations about the police, prosecutors, forensic medics, and villagers’ gossip. But when Natalia contacts these people for answers, she quickly starts doubting the reliability of her mother.
While playing with the conventions of a true-crime investigation, the workings of a conspiratorial mind are unmasked. Set as a psychological experiment unfolding on screen, Natalia makes Wanda watch the responses from people who approve and disapprove of her accusations, as well as acquaintances who have received messages from Bartek’s ghost.
From a ghostly tale on the malleability of truth, "Insurance Against Meteorites" gradually transforms into a daughter’s bittersweet love letter to her mother’s self-harming way of coping with loss.
Trailer
Gallery
