Mariah Garnett’s newest film, Life and Taxes, opens with a confession that feels all too familiar. As Sebastian, a gentle elderly man in thick black frames, shuffles through what appear to be the cameraperson’s tax documents, a voice behind the camera admits: “Most of my income was W-2. And I’m missing two 1099s.” This moment of self-reproach, familiar to anyone who has navigated the United States’ notoriously cumbersome tax system, is paired with a slow pan across the accountant’s desk, revealing a personality that exceeds the expectations of his profession. Amid towering stacks of paperwork are clues to his eccentricities: Elizabeth Warren and Greenpeace stickers, scattered playbills, and miniature figurines. As the cameraperson hesitantly notes that she “should have more than” the income listed on her 1099s, the camera lingers on a sign juxtaposing an image of Uncle Sam with Ronald Reagan’s infamous quip that “a taxpayer is a person who does not have to pass a civil service examination to work for the government.” Sebastian, it quickly becomes clear, is not your average accountant.
