‘Tangles’ Trailer Reveals Animated Drama’s January 22 Theatrical Release

‘Tangles’ has built an audience’s expectations through festival screenings and strong early responses. Its first full trailer now offers a closer look at Leah Nelson’s adult animated adaptation of Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir, while Independent Film Company confirms a theatrical release on January 22. The film is also set for an Oscar-qualifying run next month.

The response so far suggests the film’s appeal may rest on a particular balance: it faces a family’s experience of Alzheimer’s directly, while making room for affection, absurdity and laughter. That balance matters to the story. Leavitt’s memoir follows a daughter trying to understand her mother’s decline without reducing their relationship to illness alone.

At Cannes, ‘Tangles’ received a special screening and a seven-minute ovation. Producer Lauren Miller Rogen was moved to tears. The film later played in competition at Annecy and won the Sebastiane Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Those stops have given the picture a substantial early run before its wider theatrical arrival.

A daughter returns home

The story centers on Sarah, an artist and activist living in 1990s San Francisco. When Alzheimer’s begins to change her mother, Midge, Sarah returns to the small, conservative hometown she left behind. She has to reckon with a painful reality she can’t control and find a way to accept her mother’s decline, alongside the complicated, imperfect ties that bind the family.

The trailer presents that return as an emotional and visual shift. Sarah’s life away from home gives way to an intimate family story, with Midge’s changing personality at its center. The premise is heavy, but the film appears interested in more than grief. Leavitt’s memoir also records love, moments of joy and dark humor, elements the adaptation has to hold alongside the sadness.

That mixture is personal for the people who brought the film to the screen. Lauren Miller Rogen’s mother, Adele, showed early signs of Alzheimer’s when Lauren and Seth Rogen began dating more than two decades ago. Adele lived with the illness for the final 16 years of her life.

Seth Rogen has described the humor as part of the experience, not a break from it. “To have the audience go on a journey that emotionally is not what they’re expecting it to be, and to find yourself laughing amid these very sad moments, I also think is really reflective of having lived an experience very much like this,” he told Variety.

Hand-drawn images and a large voice cast

‘Tangles’ uses expressive, predominantly black-and-white hand-drawn animation. Little White Lies has described its visual approach as moving playfully between reality and fantasy in greyscale, with occasional bursts of color. That description points to a form that can shift with Sarah’s experience, letting the film’s images carry some of the emotional movement alongside its dialogue.

Abbi Jacobson voices Sarah, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Midge and Bryan Cranston as Sarah’s father, Rob. Beanie Feldstein plays Sarah’s sister, Hannah. Seth Rogen, Samira Wiley, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Bowen Yang and Pamela Adlon round out the supporting cast. Louis-Dreyfus and Rogen are also producers.

First trailer for ‘TANGLES’, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston and Seth Rogen.
The film follows an artist who returns home after Alzheimer’s disease begins to erase her mother’s vibrant personality.
In theaters on January 22. https://t.co/yI8F1W5l1G

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 21, 2026

The source material has a similarly close connection to family life. Leavitt’s mother, Midge, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 55. Leavitt made the memoir not simply a record of fear and loss, but also of the love, humor and everyday moments that remain part of a relationship as it changes.

The visuals of ‘TANGLES’.
• Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston & Seth Rogen
• The film follows an artist who returns home after Alzheimer’s disease begins to erase her mother’s personality https://t.co/pg0KWTPzhB

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 21, 2026

A feature debut with awards attention

For Nelson, ‘Tangles’ is a first feature as director. The Giant Ant co-founder has described a 10-year journey to bring the project to life. She co-wrote the screenplay with Leavitt and Trev Renney, putting the memoir’s personal point of view at the heart of the adaptation.

Early critical notices have been encouraging. AwardsWatch gave the film an A, describing it as an incredible feat of animation, and its current Letterboxd average is 4.18. TheWrap has raised the possibility that ‘Tangles’ could follow a path like ‘Flow’, another small animated film that debuted at Cannes before winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar. That comparison is a sign of the attention around the film, not a guarantee of what comes next.

The R-rated film runs 1 hour and 42 minutes. Its producers are Monarch Media, Point Grey Pictures, Giant Ant and LYLAS Pictures. Between the festival recognition, early reviews and January 22 theatrical date, the film is entering its next stage with plenty of attention already behind it.

Online responses to the trailer have focused on the difficulty of watching someone change through illness. For viewers who want animation to make room for complicated feeling, ‘Tangles’ looks set to offer more than a portrait of loss: its defining question is how a family finds connection amid change. The theatrical release will give audiences a chance to see how that mix of grief and humor unfolds across a feature.