Mike Mills was feeling depressed. Having completed his previous film, 20th Century Women, in 2016, he was searching for his next project, but the Los Angeles-based writer-director admits, “I was quite lost. I didn’t know what to do. It was a weird struggle.”
The answer, though, proved to be right in front of him: “It started with being a dad, watching my kid, all the things being a parent showed me, what it did to my heart and my understanding of the world.” But though he was inspired by his child, Hopper, born to Mills and his wife, director Miranda July, in 2012, he still hesitated. He’d mined his family history before: 2010’s Beginners was inspired by his father’s decision to come out late in life, and 20th Century Women…