Sundance Debut Explores Father-Son Bond in Watts Drama

Walter Thompson-Hernández's first feature film, 'If I Go Will They Miss Me,' had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 24. The movie tells the story of 12-year-old Lil Ant, who lives in the Watts area of South Los Angeles and starts seeing strange visions of boys floating around his neighborhood. These visions come as his father, Big Ant, returns home from prison and tries to rebuild ties with his son and wife, Lozita. The film runs 92 minutes and mixes everyday struggles in a working-class neighborhood with dream-like elements and nods to Greek myths.

Background

The film comes from a short version of the same name that Thompson-Hernández made in 2022. That short won the U.S. Fiction Short Film Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival that year. He expanded it into this full-length movie, his first time directing a feature. The project got support early on. In 2023, it was picked for the Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directors Lab. Later, in 2025, it received a $120,000 grant from the Sundance Institute Filmmakers Fund. It also got the Michael Latt Legacy 2025 Panavision Package Grant, which helps with equipment.

Thompson-Hernández grew up in Huntington Park, near Los Angeles International Airport. He remembers the loud planes flying overhead and playing games with friends, running with arms out like wings to chase the idea of flight. Those memories shaped the film. His own family home sat under the flight paths, and the noise stuck with him. He links it to his childhood asthma, too. The director wanted to show Black and brown boys in Los Angeles getting space to dream, not just face hardship.

Watts, the setting, is a working-class part of South LA with a history of Black families. The film shows neighbors hearing Spanish music from nearby homes, pointing to changes in the community over time. It avoids simple stories of city problems and instead captures daily life, family talks, and small joys.

Key Details

Lil Ant, played by Bodhi Dell, is a quiet boy who draws and loves airplanes and old myths. He wears a small gold 'A' necklace like his dad's. Big Ant, played by J. Alphonse Nicholson, comes home after prison. He worries his son sees him as perfect, which makes connecting hard. Lozita, played by Danielle Brooks, holds the family together while working and keeping peace.

Other cast members include Myles Bullock and Bre-Z. The crew has Josh Peters, Saba Zerehi, and Ben Stillman as producers. Michael Fernandez shot the film. Marina Perez did the production design, and Malcolm Parson composed the music. Alan Luna handled casting. The story skips a standard three-part setup for something more like a book, following feelings over time.

Visions and Family Ties

Lil Ant sees ghostly boys drifting by, which ties him closer to his dad. These sights mix with real life, like street sounds and home meals. The film uses montages to show Black life in South LA – people gathering, music playing, bodies moving together. Big Ant sees his son's soft side as a risk in their tough world. The boy wants a guide, but the dad feels the weight of his past.

Thompson-Hernández pulls from his life around men who left and came back changed, like after long prison time that feels like years in myths to a kid. The movie looks at flight in many ways: planes overhead, running free as a child, or emotional distance in families.

"So much happens to the figures in our lives who travel away from us and eventually come back home. Thematically, this movie is about flight and transportation — both the physical flights that one takes, but also the emotional and spiritual flights." – Walter Thompson-Hernández

What This Means

The film brings a fresh look at South Los Angeles on screen. It shows full lives, not just struggles. Families break and mend, love shifts, and kids dream big despite noise and limits from planes or life. Sundance picked it as a standout in 2026, marking Thompson-Hernández as a director to follow. His mix of real streets and magic sets it apart from usual growing-up tales.

For families like the Harrises in the film, return from prison means rebuilding trust. Lil Ant's visions highlight unseen links between dad and son, family roots, and neighborhood pull. The story pushes viewers to see the full picture – wounds, yes, but also peace, touch, and speech rhythms in daily life.

Audiences at Sundance saw a movie that honors nuance in Black Angeleno stories. It skips easy pity or fixes and just lays out the how and why of feelings. Thompson-Hernández says everyday life already has poetry in talk, movement, and connection. His work makes that clear without forcing lessons.

The premiere fits Sundance's history of new voices. Past shorts from the festival often grow into features, and this one builds on his award-winning start. Grants and labs helped make it real, showing support for stories from overlooked places. Viewers leave thinking about grace for boys who dream under flight paths, chasing planes on bikes or in their heads.

Black families on screen get space here to be complex – to toil, wonder, come together, fall apart. The film holds onto innocence not through rescue, but by letting dreams stay alive amid real pressures. Thompson-Hernández's debut points to more stories ahead, rooted in his home sounds and sights.