A mother and son bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait

In Weekend Visits, a mother and her nine-year-old son spend a day drawing, shooting hoops, watching YouTube and playfully bantering in a small house behind a fence. The scene seems like a quintessential slice of American suburbia with the exception of a few amiss details. The house seems too pristine to be lived in by such an energetic child, a security camera is mounted overhead, and their chatter is punctuated by details about the mother’s incarceration and her pending release.

This somewhat uncanny space is part of the Virginia Correctional Center for Women, where incarcerated women can spend time with their children in an environment that’s far more welcoming than typical visitation rooms. In his poignant and intimate portrait, the US director Pete Quandt weaves together scenes from the mother and son’s day, capturing their relationship with remarkable nuance for such a brief runtime. This window into their world captures not just the distinct contours of this peculiar place, but also what it means to love and parent a child under complicated circumstances.