We are junkies. And art is our drug.

Spielberg returns with one of the best coming-of-age films I think I have ever seen, simply. And it’s only made more fascinating given just how much of it was about his own life. At just a half-hour under three, The Fabelmans is a wondrous and captivating rollercoaster of emotions, that is just so, so deeply personal you can’t help but smile ear to ear and well up during many scenes.

Everyone is also genuinely great here. Paul Dano seamlessly gives a restrained but necessary performance, acting as the glue between his two co-leads, Gabriel LaBelle is endearing and endlessly sympathetic as the titular Sam Fabelman, and even Seth Rogan’s brief moments work out (though he can’t escape that laugh). Yet the real star here is Michelle Williams, all I can say is give her the damn Oscar already.

Finally, the real key to this film is obviously what it’s really about; not just movies, but *art.* Art is an ultimate catalyst for expressing and capturing emotion, experience and life itself. It is transcendent. It breaks us apart and puts us together again. It’s a force that demands blood, sweat and tears. Spielberg and Kushner tell us this in the clearest manner. And with that final sequence and ending shot, this was solidified as a top film of the year for me.