Tussen broers

Elderly brothers Rob and René – father and uncle of filmmaker Tom Fassaert – cannot live with, but also not without each other. René lives like a recluse in a cluttered, congested house, his brother Rob intervenes. But then Tom begins to suspect that something else lies beneath the dynamic between the brothers.

Filmmaker Tom Fassaert films his father’s weekly visits to his uncle, capturing how the brothers fall into a familiar pattern: Rob, a retired psychologist, in the role of caregiver, and René as the patient. Their mutual irritation is genuine, but so is their affection. This contrast results in scenes that are as funny as they are moving. As Rob and René repeat the same ritual week after week, Tom increasingly senses that something unspoken lurks beneath the routine. He delves into the family archives and uncovers an old mystery: their father disappeared without a trace when the brothers were still children. No goodbye, no explanation – only an absence that has affected three generations.

Tom, who previously sought out their elusive mother in A Family Affair (2015), takes his uncle and father on a road trip without destination in this new film, searching for traces of a man who chose to leave none behind. Along the way, it becomes clear that the missing grandfather left behind more than just questions. He left a blueprint for how the men in this family disappear, each in their own way.