Director Chole Taylor
Rated E15+
Score 5/6
The film started with a mystery: after only ten people showed up to our ten-year reunion, I decided to interview former classmates from our Sydney all-girls Catholic school to ask why. What emerged were conversations about identity, social comparison, and the gap between who we were and who we’ve become – played out against the particular backdrop of growing up with social media as the measure of everyone else’s life.
It should be noted that Reunion is going to be screened at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival during Shorts Sessions 2. Okay, this seemed like an odd topic for a documentary from my point of view, class reunions are a common trope seen in American sitcoms. I can’t help but mention Homer Simpson’s Most Improved Odour Award in the Season 4 episode “The Front” (1993), and for the record, no, I didn’t go to my class reunion; I honestly don’t know if there was one. Sitting here watching this after watching Reunion, I can’t help but wonder if Class Reunions are more of a private-school thing than a public-school thing. Director Chloe Taylor delivered an interesting documentary that delves into the kind of questions that we have all asked ourselves at least once.
