In Trouble, filmmaker Mariah Garnett attempts to understand the life and mind of her father, David. She has not seen him since she was a toddler. The two begin to form a new relationship. And David shares with her about how he grew up in Belfast at the height of the Troubles. David was a young Protestant in love with a Catholic girl. He found himself under attack from both sides and was forced to flee Ireland in order to save his life. Garnett then returns to Belfast and attempts to recreate the past herself.

Trouble begins as a personal journey into Garnett’s family origins. But it quickly evolves into an exploration of the effect of Ireland’s divided history on the people themselves. Garnett delves into her father’s story. She connects the distance that existed between them for so long with his fear of revisiting the past. The story of David’s life is one he’d rather like to forget, especially his traumatic time as a man at the time of the Troubles.

However, what’s most interesting about the film is Garnett’s interest in attempting to literally inhabit her father’s shoes. When he refuses to return to Belfast, Garnett goes on alone in an attempt to understand his story herself. Says Garnett, “We can sort of get glimpses into the past through our parent’s eyes. But we can never really know what it was like for them”. Garnett opts to literally take on the role of her father onscreen to better understand the challenges of his youth. By recreating old footage and even speaking with his voice, Garnett refuses to judge her father. As such, the film paints him with a graceful brush. It recognizes him as a man caught in the midst of terrible circumstances rather than a villain himself.