Item: Stranger Than Fiction, #20
Rating: 7
Author: Archivist John

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a faded photograph found in an attic, then yes. If you need a plot, a villain, or even a sense of forward motion, you will probably be checking your watch every three minutes. Stranger Than Fiction, #20 isn't really a movie so much as a long, sun-drenched stare at some old shelves.

The whole thing centers on this general store in Coulterville. It's the kind of place that looks like a movie set, except it’s real. The brothers, aged 86 and 74, just sort of exist in the space. They aren't performing for the camera; they’re just being old in a store that’s older than they are.

There is this moment where the camera lingers on a jar of something—maybe candy, maybe buttons—that has been sitting there since the turn of the century. It’s haunting in a way that’s hard to pin down. You start to wonder if they even sell anything, or if the store is just a tomb for 19th-century inventory.

Oddly Specific Notes:

The dust in the sunlight is the real star of this show.
I’m not convinced the younger brother actually knows how to use a cash register.
The pacing makes The Sunrise Trail feel like a high-octane action flick.
Every creak of the floorboards sounds like a secret being kept.

It’s funny, because you see all these documentaries about 'the American dream' or whatever, but this just feels like a guy filming his neighbors. It lacks the polish you see in stuff like Sudan, but that’s exactly why it works. It doesn't care if you're bored. It’s just sitting there in the California heat.

There’s a strange, quiet dignity to the way they move around the store. Like they’re part of the furniture. If you’ve ever watched Go West, you know that old-timey vibe, but this is less romantic and way more grounded in reality. It’s just... slow.

I think I liked it because it didn't try to teach me anything. It just showed me two guys waiting for customers who probably aren't coming. Sometimes that’s enough. 👴🏼🏚️