Part autobiography, part crowd-pleaser, The Fabelmans is a coming-of-age story told in a way that only Steven Spielberg could.

The movie chronicles Spielberg’s life from boyhood to the brink of adulthood, taking on his discovery of film, the opposite sex and crucially, his parents’ divorce.

This is the defining divorce in cinema history, bleeding its way into so much of Spielberg’s beloved filmography, from ET, to Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Catch Me if You Can.

It’s the reason so many of his movies feature child actors, cast figuratively into the darkness and forced to look after themselves or their siblings.

Most people would probably discuss it in therapy, but it became the driving creative force behind the sultan of spectacle, bringing us decades upon decades of iconic cinema.

And, of course, he knows it.

So it should be no surprise that this honest, if not razor sharp, look at his childhood comes in the twilight of his career, particularly after the Covid-19 period when so many filmmakers had time to self-examine.

Mild spoilers to follow

The film opens on young Sammy Fabelman (the Spielberg stand-in) in the movie theatre, watching The Greatest Show on Earth with his parents.

His mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is a frustrated artist, while father Burt (Paul Dano) is a bookish computer engineer.

This first cinema experience enlivens Sammy in a way that he has never before experienced and instantly causes him to beg for cameras so he can create movies of his own.

Mitzi appreciates the artistic pursuit, while Burt hopes the technical aspects may lead him towards a similar career.

We get to see Sammy find his feet on set, ordering around friends who stand in as his first actors, and slowly develops the skills to become the prodigy he was.

It is a movie that could have easily become the ‘look at how brilliant I was’ biopic, but Spielberg never overly self-aggrandises or strays into fake humility.

There is definite truth in this portrayal, alongside crowd-pleasing story beats that have drawn Spielberg critical acclaim and box office success alike.

It is undeniably sentimental, while also carrying some heavy thematic undertones, the execution of which will be viewer-dependant.

But at this point it is worth savouring every new release we get from Spielberg. There simply will not be that many more.

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, strong themes and mild drug use.
4/5.