51 Birch Street

It might seem self-indulgent for a filmmaker to devote a 90-minute doc to the examination of his own parents’ 54-year union. But Doug Block’s account of the events that occur following the death of his mother—including the speedy remarriage of his elderly dad to his former secretary, and the discovery of countless journals revealing the desires of a sexually frustrated housewife in postwar suburbia—comes off as startlingly relevant. Concerned that he’s learned too much, Block considers abandoning the project, wondering, “When it comes to your parents, maybe ignorance is bliss.” For the sake of the engrossing story that unfolds, we’re glad he didn’t. (Now playing; Cinema Village.) — Erin Clements