Take Me Home
A 91-minute drama about the person nobody plans for
Take Me Home follows Anna, a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, who's built her entire life around caring for her aging parents in Florida. It's not a inspirational story — it's something harder to watch. The family works because everyone leans on everyone else, filling gaps nobody talks about. Then a heat wave hits in 2026, and that fragile arrangement collapses.
Director Liz Sargent made this film by adapting her own 2023 short, and the feature doesn't feel padded. It feels necessary. At 91 minutes, there's not a wasted moment. What gets to you isn't the setup — it's how the film refuses to turn Anna into either a burden or a saint. She's just a person with habits, frustrations, competence in the spaces where she's been allowed to develop it. The morning routine scene early on doesn't feel scripted. It feels observed.
Here's what matters: premiered at Sundance 2026 on January 26, won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and is available now on major streaming platforms. If you've watched The Florida Project or Capernaum, you'll recognize the DNA — but this is Sargent's own voice.
The casting choice that makes this film work
The lead role goes to Anna Sargent, who is, in a meaningful sense, playing a version of herself. That's not a gimmick. It's the kind of decision that changes what a film can do — because there's no distance between the performance and the reality it's drawn from. She's supported by Victor Slezak, Ali Ahn, Marceline Hugot, and Shane Harper, but it's Anna's presence that anchors everything.
Sargent wrote, directed, and produced this herself. The production company lineup — Caring Across, Cyprian Films, Cinereach, River Road Entertainment, and Tribeca Studios — signals serious infrastructure behind an independent film. Distribution was acquired by Willa in May 2026. That's the kind of pedigree that matters, even if the film isn't hitting multiplexes.
What's striking is how the film engages with what the U.S. care system actually provides — and doesn't — for people like Anna and her parents. That's not a subplot delivered through dialogue. It's just there in the situation itself, baked into the premise.
Why critics haven't stopped talking about it
The caregiving drama is a genre that can go wrong fast — toward sentimentality, toward misery-tourism, toward the kind of inspirational framing that flattens the people it's supposed to honor. Take Me Home doesn't do any of that. Screen Anarchy's Sundance review praised its unsentimental depiction of the caregiving dynamic, and that word — unsentimental — keeps coming up in conversations about this film for a reason.
The documentary-style texture in certain sequences gives you the feeling of being there, quietly observing. That's filmmaking that trusts the audience. Honestly, it's rare to see that kind of restraint in contemporary drama.
Rotten Tomatoes currently shows a 95% Tomatometer score from 21 reviews — remarkable consensus this early. The film had its international premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in the Perspectives section after Sundance, which tells you something about how it's been tracking in the critical conversation.
Where to watch and what you're getting into
Take Me Home is available on major OTT streaming services right now. Check the where-to-watch widget at the top of this page for current platform availability — it shifts faster than any article can track. Movie OTT's streaming tracker keeps those listings live across regions, so you don't have to hunt.
Willa acquired distribution in May 2026, and the film's in its streaming window now. No wide theatrical release happened, which isn't unusual for Sundance acquisitions like this one — they travel the festival circuit first, then land on platforms. Hard to say if a physical release is planned; no announcement yet.
Runtime: 91 minutes
Genre: Drama
Year: 2026
Content note: Deals with aging, cognitive disability, family stress, and heat-related crisis — not heavy on graphic content, but emotionally dense.
Should you watch it?
If you've ever been the person holding a family together — or watched someone you love do that work — this film will get under your skin. It doesn't offer easy answers or tidy resolutions. It just offers clarity about what that life actually feels like, moment to moment. Think The Florida Project meets intimate family portraiture. Not Ordinary People, not melodrama. Just a family in a specific place, in a specific crisis, trying to figure out what comes next.
You'll want to watch this without distractions. Eighty-one minutes. It doesn't overstay. It just stays.
FAQ
Q: Who wrote and directed Take Me Home?
Liz Sargent wrote, directed, and produced it. She adapted it from her own 2023 short film of the same name.
Q: Is it based on a true story?
It's drawn from real life — Anna Sargent plays a version of herself. It's not a documentary, but it's not purely invented either. The family dynamics reflect genuine personal experience.
Q: Did it win awards?
Yes. It won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition (premiered January 26). It later screened at Berlin.
Q: Where can I watch it?
It's on major streaming platforms now. Use the where-to-watch tool on this page for current availability in your region, or check Movie OTT for real-time listings.
Q: How long is it?
91 minutes.
Q: What's the cast?
Anna Sargent leads, with Victor Slezak, Ali Ahn, Marceline Hugot, and Shane Harper in supporting roles.