It is rare for a rock band to hand over their entire creative identity to a filmmaker and just... see what happens. But that is exactly what The National did with Mike Mills. Most people think of the I Am Easy to Find film as a long-form music video. It isn't. Not even close. It is a 24-minute short film that exists as a companion piece to the 2019 album of the same name, yet it breathes entirely on its own.
Alicia Vikander stars. She doesn't have many lines. Honestly, she doesn't have any dialogue in the traditional sense. Instead, we watch her entire life play out from birth to death in a series of flickering, black-and-white vignettes. It’s heavy. It’s beautiful. And if you’ve ever felt like your life is just a collection of small, mundane moments that somehow add up to something massive, this film will probably wreck you.
Mike Mills and the Art of the "Companion Piece"
Mike Mills isn't some random music video director. He’s the guy behind 20th Century Women and Beginners. He has this specific, gentle way of looking at human fragility. When he approached Matt Berninger (the lead singer of The National) after a show, he didn't want to make a promo. He wanted to use their music as the DNA for a story about a woman's life.
The National ended up giving him "the keys to the car." They sent him rough demos, unreleased stems, and half-finished thoughts. Mills didn't just listen; he started rearranging the songs. He brought in female vocalists like Gail Ann Dorsey and Sharon Van Etten to counter Berninger’s baritone. He essentially co-produced the album because the film demanded it. This is why the I Am Easy to Find film feels so much more integrated than your average visual album. It’s not a marketing gimmick; the film and the music were born in the same room.
How the storytelling actually works
The film uses an "on-screen text" device that sounds like it should be annoying, but it works. You see a shot of Vikander as a toddler, and a caption pops up: "She realizes she is separate from her mother." Later, as an adult: "She decides to be less honest." It’s basically a cheat code for empathy. It bypasses the need for acting out complex scenes and goes straight for the internal monologue.
Vikander is incredible here. She plays every age—from a newborn being carried (metaphorically) to an elderly woman facing the end. She doesn't use aging makeup or CGI. She just shifts her posture. She changes her gaze. It’s a masterclass in physical acting that reminds you why she has an Oscar.
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The National's sonic shift
If you listen to the I Am Easy to Find album without seeing the film, you’re only getting half the story. The movie uses "reimagined" versions of the tracks. They are more atmospheric. More skeletal.
- The track "Quiet Light" feels different when you see it synced to a scene of domestic stillness.
- "Rylan," a fan favorite that the band struggled to finish for years, finally found its home in this collaborative space.
- The use of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus adds a haunting, communal layer that the band hadn't explored much before.
The movie explores themes that The National has been poking at for decades: anxiety, the struggle to stay present in a relationship, and the fear of being "found" or seen for who you really are. But through Mills’ lens, it feels less like a "sad dad rock" project and more like a universal human document.
Why the black and white aesthetic matters
Color would have been a distraction. By stripping the visuals down to high-contrast monochrome, Mills makes the passage of time feel both permanent and fleeting. You don't get bogged down in the fashion of the era or the specific decor of the rooms. It becomes timeless. You focus on the micro-expressions on Vikander's face.
It’s also a practical choice. Since she plays every age without makeup, the black and white helps the audience suspend their disbelief. You accept her as a child because the lighting tells you to. You accept her as an old woman because the music carries that weight.
This isn't just for fans of the band
Kinda surprisingly, you don't actually need to like The National to appreciate the I Am Easy to Find film. It stands alone as a piece of experimental cinema. It’s about the "invisible" parts of a woman's life—the thoughts she doesn't say, the small resentments that build up, and the quiet joys of raising a child or looking at a tree.
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There’s a specific scene where the text says, "She feels like a copy of a copy." It’s such a simple line, but when paired with the minimalist score, it hits like a freight train. That’s the Mike Mills touch. He takes these massive, terrifying existential crises and makes them feel like a conversation you're having with yourself at 3:00 AM.
Common misconceptions about the project
A lot of critics at the time tried to compare this to Beyoncé’s Lemonade or Frank Ocean’s Endless. That’s a mistake. Those are visual albums designed to center the artist. The I Am Easy to Find film actually de-centers the band. Matt Berninger barely appears, if at all. This isn't about the band's ego; it’s about using their music as a soundtrack to a fictionalized, yet deeply true, life.
Some people also think the film is a literal biography of someone. It isn't. It’s a composite. It’s a "everywoman" story. Mills has talked about how he pulled from his own life, his mother’s life, and his wife’s (Miranda July) experiences to craft these moments.
Real impact on the music industry
Before this project, "visual albums" were mostly high-budget collections of music videos. The National showed that you could take a more "indie film" approach. They proved that you could let a director rewrite your songs to fit a visual narrative and end up with something better than the original.
The album peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200, and while the film didn't get a traditional theatrical release, its impact on the "indie" aesthetic of the late 2010s was massive. It influenced how bands think about their visual identity—moving away from flashy effects and toward raw, emotional storytelling.
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Things to look for when you watch
- The Transitions: Watch how Mills uses jump cuts to signify the passage of years. It’s disorienting at first, then it becomes rhythmic.
- The Text Placement: The captions aren't always at the bottom. They move. They interact with the frame.
- The Silence: Some of the most powerful moments in the film have no music at all.
- The Ending: Don't look away during the final three minutes. It’s a sequence that manages to be both devastating and incredibly hopeful.
How to experience it properly
You can find the I Am Easy to Find film on YouTube for free, usually on 4AD’s channel or The National’s official page. Don't watch it on your phone while you're commuting. This is a "sit in a dark room with good headphones" kind of experience.
If you want to go deeper, listen to the "I Am Easy to Find" episode of the Song Exploder podcast. They break down the track "Rylan" and discuss how the film influenced the final mix of the song. It gives you a lot of respect for how much work went into the sound design.
After watching, it’s worth revisiting the album. You’ll find that you can't hear certain songs without seeing Alicia Vikander’s face or reading those weirdly specific captions in your head. That’s the sign of a successful collaboration—when the two pieces of art become inseparable.
Actionable Steps for the Curious
- Watch the short film first: Before diving into the 68-minute album, watch the 24-minute film on YouTube or Vimeo. It provides the emotional "map" for the music.
- Compare the versions: Listen to the film's soundtrack versus the album version of "Quiet Light." Notice how the film version is more stripped back to allow the visual story to breathe.
- Read the liner notes: If you can get your hands on the physical vinyl, the artwork and notes go into more detail about the "casting" of the various female vocalists who redefined the band's sound for this era.
- Explore Mike Mills’ filmography: If the vibe of the film resonates with you, watch Beginners or C’mon C’mon. You’ll see the same DNA of empathy and "small moment" storytelling that makes the National collaboration so special.
Ultimately, this project is a reminder that rock music doesn't have to stay in its lane. It can be cinema. It can be poetry. It can be a 24-minute meditation on what it means to grow old and disappear. It’s not always "easy to find" art that stays with you this long after the screen goes black, but this one does.