Living with a Visionary is like if UP had a baby with The Notebook during COVID and they ended up being this colorful masterpiece about the enduring power of love.
At the center of this story are John and Diana. She’s that manic pixie dream girl you always see in romcoms. And he’s the boy blown away by her exuberance for life who falls head over heels for her. But when those kinds of movies or storylines happen, we never get to see what follows after the manic pixie dream girl gets together with the guy.
MORE: Looking for more short films that have your jaw on the ground at the end? Read our review for Sundance’s Callback here!
In Living with a Visionary, we get to see that the manic pixie dream girl and her beau had a long life filled with memories, family, and love. And when Diana gets sick with Parkinson’s, John doesn’t drop her or deny the reality that they’re living in right now. He embraces it. He takes that vow they made when they got married and he holds it close to his heart. If this is the life that they’re going to live now, if these are the visions of wonder that she is seeing, he’s going to be there at her side.
It’s made all the better by James Cromwell, who narrates the next chapter of his love story with Diana in a way that feels like a storybook. It’s magical and full of wonder. And you want to know more. You need to know more. Because he treats the world that she lives in, and the visions she has with respect but also with love. And you just hope that one day you find that kind of love to walk this world with you.
MORE: Not all love is perfect like the one in Living with a Visionary. Read our review for Sauna Sickness.
Unfortunately Living with a Visionary takes a heartbreaking turn and John is eventually separated from Diana.
But that love never dissipates or wavers. And in their hardest moments John remembers how he lived with Diana, laughed with Diana, and how Diana continues being the light of his life, even if that light only exists in his memory now. And that right there is what left me bawling while I was looking on in awe and shock at how fantastically beautiful this world created by Stephen P. Neary was. This is a writer and director that understands that animation is a powerhouse vehicle for telling moving stories about love and the human condition.
Also, shout-out to John Matthias himself for his story and Neary, Janelle Feng, and Charlie Hankin for the animation. They brought this story to life in a way that was unexpected but so beautiful. And shout-out to the artists who did the coloring for this short film aka Neary, Sonja von Marensdorff, and Connie Li Chan. Your work was soft, delicate, and reminded me of these flip books that I used to make as a kid. I loved them then and I love them now.
Living with a Visionary screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
