The film is framed as a poignant, unexpectedly funny portrait of family resilience, balancing heavy themes with sharp humor to create a journey that is 'not what they’re expecting it to be.'
Insiders note the decade-long struggle to adapt Sarah Leavitt’s non-linear graphic memoir into a script, with Leah Nelson admitting it was a 'tricky piece of content' to translate from snippets and drawings.
Produced by Seth Rogen, Lauren Miller Rogen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Voice cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, and Samira Wiley. Released by Independent Film Company. Screening at Middleburg Film Festival prior to November theatrical run.
Seth Rogen is betting on animation to tackle the rawest emotional terrain of his life, and after ten years, the receipts are finally in.
Seth Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, have officially dropped the trailer for "Tangles," the animated feature that has been in development hell—or perhaps development heaven—for a full decade. Produced by the power couple alongside heavyweights like Julia Louis-Dreyfus and distributed by Independent Film Company, this isn't just another celebrity vanity project. It’s a deeply personal adaptation of Sarah Leavitt’s acclaimed graphic memoir, "Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me," and the team is pulling no punches about the emotional toll it took to get here.
The film’s visual language is stark, relying on predominantly black-and-white animation to mirror the disorienting nature of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Lauren Miller Rogen, whose own mother Adele suffered from the illness for the final 16 years of her life, explained the artistic choice at the Middleburg Film Festival. She noted that the simple drawings hold space for "big emotional moments," creating a balance she found "really special." For those who only know Rogen from his raunchy comedies, this pivot to expressive, somber animation might be the biggest plot twist of his career.
Adaptation lead Leah Nelson didn’t shy away from the logistical nightmares involved. Speaking with Variety, Nelson admitted that translating Leavitt’s book—which was built on fragmented memories, notes, and sketches—into a linear script was a "tricky piece of content." It’s a testament to the persistence of the production team, which includes Point Grey Pictures and LYLAS Pictures, that they stuck with it for ten years. The voice cast is equally stacked, featuring Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein, and Samira Wiley, signaling that this is a prestige play, not a low-budget passion project.
Rogen himself framed the project as a challenge to find humor and beauty amidst the sadness, stating that the film is the "embodiment of sadness and joy, swirling together in unexpected ways." With a qualifying theatrical run set for next month, the question isn't whether this film will make you cry—it's whether it will make you laugh until you do. Given the Rogen brand, the answer is likely yes. This is the drama that matters, stripped of the tabloid gloss and rendered in ink and grief.
