In director Claudia Sainte-Luce's debut feature The Amazing Catfish, the worlds of a rambunctious matriarchy and a withdrawn misfit collide and combine in a moving reflection of living and dying with courage. When solitary protagonist Claudia (Ximena Ayala) winds up in the hospital with appendicitis, she makes an unexpected connection with a fellow patient, single mother Martha (Lisa Owen). Martha's four children, who range in age from preadolescent to mostly grown, create a rowdy atmosphere in and out of the hospital, starkly contrasting with Claudia's muted existence. But as their lives become increasingly entwined, each breaching the defenses of the other, Claudia becomes a quietly integral part of their rough-and-tumble household: part confidante, part caretaker, part cautious changeling. At the core of the film is Martha's struggle to live each day with intention, even as her illness diminishes her physically, and this infuses her home with ferocious passion. Confidently filmed by Claire Denis's longtime cinematographer, Agnès Godard, this spare but colorful film-set in Guadalajara and based loosely on true events from Sainte-Luce's own life-embraces the inclination to define a family as the people you choose and are chosen by, not necessarily the ones you're born to.