SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! Funerals are difficult and incredibly personal occasions for families. In The LeMieurs, director Sammy LeMieur delves into his family’s funeral home business as they prepare to host one for a loved one of their own. Their matriarch, Beverly, doesn’t have much time left, and they’re balancing the logistics of her funeral with their own period of mourning.
At the center of the story are Beverly’s five sons, coming together to plan for the inevitable administrative headaches that come with a person’s passing. Who gets her house? Who manages the finances? But this family has a completely different relationship with death than most others. There’s a comfort they’ve developed that makes it a standard part of their regular business vocabulary. So for them, when the funeral comes around, it’s just like any other. The grieving comes after. Sitting with loved ones, recounting shared final moments, wondering if they should’ve done things differently–the full weight of the loss didn’t hit until Beverly had been laid to rest.
“…delves into his family’s funeral home business as they prepare to host one for a loved one of their own.”
Because the filmmaker is also a member of the family, there’s a rare, raw intimacy to the storytelling. The audience is inside the living rooms during family gatherings, sitting around the kitchen table for sensitive conversations, and listening in on family prayers. There’s a familiarity around the subjects that only LeMieur could tap into. The handheld camera and tight framing add another personal touch, a fly on the wall for this complex time in the family’s lives. LeMieur’s work with the camera is a real highlight of his feature debut, with consistently beautiful cinematography. The film is also a fascinating reflection on life itself. The audience gets a glimpse into Beverly’s mindset as she enters the final months of her life–her friends have passed away, she feels like a burden, it becomes harder to do the things she enjoys, and her memory begins to fade. It’s a call-to-action to strive for the life you want to live because our time on earth is too fleeting to wait.
Ultimately, The LeMieurs is a deeply personal portrait of a beloved family member, perhaps the director’s own way of processing his grandmother’s death. Despite the heartache caused by the loss, the film ends as a celebration of new life. The home the film starts in has been reinvigorated by Beverly’s grandson and his wife, who welcomed their first child a month after her passing. It’s a potent reminder that in spite of the grief, we must move forward.
The LeMieurs screened at the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…a potent reminder that in spite of the grief, we must move forward."
