Director Leah Nelson makes her animated feature debut with "Tangles," an adaptation of Sarah Leavitt's graphic memoir about her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease. The film world premieres as a Special Screening at Cannes, marking a significant entry point for Nelson into animation.
Producer Lauren Miller Rogen joined the project after both she and Nelson connected deeply with Leavitt's source material. The memoir blends personal narrative with the clinical reality of cognitive decline, offering an intimate portrait of family dynamics under the strain of progressive illness. This subject matter demanded careful navigation. Nelson and Miller Rogen emphasized the "delicate nature" of bringing Alzheimer's to screen, balancing emotional authenticity with respect for those experiencing the disease.
Animated features rarely tackle neurodegenerative illness with this level of specificity. The choice to animate rather than live-action creates distance and metaphorical space, allowing audiences to process heavy material without the documentary weight of realistic performance. Animation can externalize internal states, visualizing memory loss and cognitive fragmentation in ways live-action struggles to achieve.
Miller Rogen's production background and her own family experiences inform the project's sensibility. Nelson's animation direction shapes how the disease progresses visually, translating Leavitt's illustrated panels into moving sequences that preserve the graphic novel's distinctive aesthetic while expanding its emotional range.
"Tangles" enters a crowded awards conversation at Cannes while also positioning itself within a growing slate of animated features addressing adult themes and serious subject matter. Following successes like "Flee" and "Wolfwalkers," prestige animation continues breaking away from family-entertainment expectations. The film tackles grief, caregiving, identity, and mortality through a lens that honors both Leavitt's lived experience and the broader experience of families navigating Alzheimer's care.
The Cannes premiere