When 21 year old Camille discovers her father’s affair, she is forced to find empathy and humanize the way she views her parents. Finding that her mother is at peace with the affair, Camille looks inward evaluating her own relationships and the ways in which her upbringing affects them.

With a dialogue driven-script, Like Me, Like Everyone aims to create the perfection conversation, saying “all the things you wish you could’ve said” in the heat of an argument. Loosely based on her own experiences, writer-director Kelso Antoine unpacks the common complexity of family dynamics in a simple, relatable way. While this film centers around a specific narrative, the issues of fidelity, parenthood, and relationships are universal, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes. As Kelso puts it, “Everybody has their own shit going on.”

Initially written for a screenwriting class at Columbia College, Kelso was pleasantly surprised when a surplus of interested students and artists were lined up to help her turn her script into a full fledged film. Working with a small budget and volunteer actors and crew, Like Me, Like Everyone showcases the generosity of the Chicago art community and its willingness to lend a hand in any way possible. “It was like a big hug from the film community” explains Kelso.

Kelso allowed this story to evolve through dialogue, following the themes wherever they took her. Tapping into her own experiences and relationships, nothing about this story is contrived. The humanity of it all is what attracted the cast and crew members to the story, wanting to bring this raw and simple story to the screen.

As a result of the cathartic experience that is creating this film, Kelso hopes audiences to leave the theatre with a sense of empathy and compassion for people we’ve experienced flawed relationships with. “Cut people some slack, be less defensive… trying to understand instead of fighting.”

“You learn more when you listen.”