The Parents begins with a couple attending an ultrasound screening, realizing that they will be having twins.
The film jumps forward in time and the parents are now dealing with early mornings, towers of diapers, and new problems once the twins learn to walk. The mom and dad hastily baby proof the home, protecting the children from potential dangers. Their lives become an unrelenting stream of work, sleepless nights, diaper changes, and chasing toddlers.
Towards the end, the film reaches a pivot point when the mother heads out to buy diapers. As she drives the mother doze off, drawn to sleep by the brief moment of serenity. She is slowly drifting into the opposite lane of oncoming traffic when the car alerts her and automatically steers back into its lane, avoiding a dramatic accident to happen. Supers appear: The car that looks after you, like you look after others.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
The portrayal of parents in the media is often unrealistic, creating impossible standards to live up to and a
harsh social media climate. This image often leads to “parent shaming”, when moms and dads are guilted if they don’t live up to this unachievable standard. We wanted to go down a different route: to show that even the most exceptional parent gets tired and makes mistakes.
To fully utilize this idea in social media, we used an online phenomenon, so-called “parent saves”, and combined it with our own footage to create humorous short clips. And to break category language in still images, we combined beautiful car photography with chaotic family life. All assets led to the same powerful message: sometimes, we all need someone looking after us.
Tell the jury anything relevant about the direction. Do not name the director.
This film showcases a technical safety feature while simultaneously crafting a story that integrates the use of this feature into its narrative. As children joyfully explore their world, the role of the parents is to guide them towards safer paths. This is also the purpose of Volvo’s Lane Keeping Aid – it prevents the driver from running into harm. This metaphor needed to be clear to the audience, while at the same time portraying family life in a believable, relatable and honest way (with a humorous and charming filter).
Creating a film with two toddlers as main characters is challenging and unpredictable. It was crucial for the film that the family felt credible and believable. The director needed to find new creative solutions on the go in order to capture moments that felt natural, while at the same time capturing the key scenes needed to convey our message.