Vacancy

From Guggenheim fellow Zachary Lazar, a canny and unnerving portrait of a country and a family on the brink of explosive strife and an uncertain future.

In the summer of 2020, journalist Hannah Groff flees lockdown in New York City for nostalgia-laden Long Island, where her family once had a summer home. But trouble follows close behind.

The vacant house that was supposed to be Hannah’s escape is on loan from her ex-husband, Jack Haynes, who recently inherited it after the death of his parents. Now the house is caught up in a protracted dispute between Jack, a lawyer, and his brother Will, an indie rock figure whose star has faded. Meanwhile, a wealthy entrepreneur named Richard Santiago is on a quest to buy the house and the surrounding real estate in order to tear it all down and let the land revert to woods.

Displaced and mired in battles that don’t belong to her, Hannah forms a friendship with Will’s daughter, Alina, who was adopted from Guatemala as an infant and is at the heart of the conflict between the brothers. Through the fall and winter, the tensions on Long Island escalate against the backdrop of the larger tensions across the country, finally culminating in the chaos of the Capitol attack of January 6. With precision and deep humanity, Vacancy documents the changes over half a century that led to this moment in American history. This is a story about the places we return to and the places we lose, and about who is allowed to call a place home.