Honouring the Complexity of Heartbreak in Instacart’s Holiday Film

This holiday season, grocery delivery company Instacart partnered with Love Song director Justyna Obasi to tell an intimate story about experiencing loneliness. It’s a time of year when people are compelled to join in with the merriment – even if they’re not feeling it – and when people experience isolation in the most acute way.

Justyna’s authentic and touching film, 'Big Sister', tells the story of a newly single man, forlorn over a recent breakup, and how his sister arrives to comfort him with a family dinner. Instacart helps the sister fill her sibling’s barren fridge and put a smile back on his face, making his lonely holiday a little more bearable. 

It’s not a saccharine, magic-button fix-all - but a more grounded acknowledgment that holidays can be tough for people, and that Instacart might be able to help support in a small way.

LBB’s Ben Conway spoke with the director to find out more.

LBB> How did this project come about for you? How, and at what stage, did you get involved? Did you help write the spot? If so, what was that process like?

Justyna> I’ve actually wanted to collaborate with the creative team at Instacart, Jess [Guy, ACD] and Megan [Tuohy, creative lead], for a while. So when the opportunity came up, I was excited. They sent me this amazing deck about films that explore loneliness around Christmas, and it really spoke to me. We hopped on a call, connected instantly, and I started writing a treatment to show how I saw those films coming to life. It was a true team effort in shaping the vision together.

LBB> Did you help cast the talent? How did you find the perfect actors?

Justyna> Jordan Mahr really stood out during the callbacks – he absolutely nailed it, and there was no question that he was the right choice for the role of the little brother. As for Bjorn Blignaut, we were all on the same page about him playing the witty brother-in-law because of his comedic chops, though sadly, the role was too small to fully showcase his talent. 

The big challenge was finding the right actor for the big sister. We’d been casting for days and I couldn’t find her. On the last day we had to lock it in, my producer Nicole Powell remembered Brittney Quach. I’d worked with Brittney before on a project about motherhood, and she was an amazing actor. We called her up in the middle of the casting process, and an hour later, she came on and learned the text in 20 minutes…The rest is history.

LBB> The performances are very naturalistic – what helped you bring that out of the cast?

Justyna> The casting process is so key to everything and I am always looking for actors who can show me all that I’m looking for during auditions (here it was depth, vulnerability, and charm) because, honestly, I can’t bring out anything in someone that isn’t already there. Once we had our cast, it was all about talking to the actors and getting deep into their characters. 

We sat down together and had real conversations about loneliness – things like breakups or the feeling of being a big sister in our own lives. Those personal connections helped inform the performances and make them feel natural and real.

LBB> The film presents loneliness without forcing an unrealistic and oversimplified resolution, and without being overly saccharine. How did you go about developing the film’s tone, and hitting the necessary emotional beats in a natural way?

Justyna> Loneliness and sadness are common parts of everyday life, but you don’t often see it portrayed in advertising, especially during the holidays. I was really glad that the creative team and I were all on the same page about embracing imperfection, especially during a time when everything can feel so amplified. 

We made sure that the authentic experience of heartbreak bled into every part of the film – the performances, the music, the camera work, the set design, the styling. It was all about keeping things as real and grounded as possible without forcing a happy, oversimplified resolution. We wanted to honour the complexity of those emotions and let them live authentically in the film.

LBB> Was the camera work and visual aesthetic a part of this process as well? How did you and DoP Kate Arizmendi build out the spot’s visual language?

Justyna> Absolutely; the camera work and visual aesthetic were a huge part of the process. I love working with Kate Arizmendi because she’s so brilliant at building a world with a camera and lighting. We did not want to do anything too tricksy; we wanted to highlight the human element in each scene. 

The goal was to make the camera feel immersive, intimate and deeply connected to the characters. Every shot was composed and painterly. We were aiming for a warm, beautiful, heightened reality – something that felt real at its core but with a touch of subtle magic. 

To achieve that, we used authentic light sources, like natural light spilling through windows or the glow from practical lamps and candles. It helped create that grounded yet slightly dreamlike atmosphere.

LBB> How did you create a lived-in atmosphere with the set design as well? How was the shoot with The Lift in general? 

Justyna> Creating a lived-in atmosphere starts with finding a space that feels authentic. It has to feel like these characters could actually live there, with the right 'bones' to support that. Once we had the location, Monica Bidault, the production designer, and I talked about the little brother's character and where we find him at this moment in his life – his girlfriend has just left, and she took most of the stuff. So we focused on negative space, making sure the set looked sparse but still felt real and relatable in the details. 

The Lift was incredible, as always, at really making everything come together and run smoothly. The shoot itself was pretty seamless, but one funny thing that happened was we shot on the same date as when two major earthquakes had hit Mexico City in the past. Thankfully, nothing happened, but everyone was a bit on edge, calling their families just in case something did happen. It definitely added some extra emotion to the day lol.

LBB> Did you decide on the music and help the edit too? How was that process?

Justyna> Yes, I was involved in the edit – it's such an important part of the process for me. I always like to get the edit to a place I’m really happy with before the agency comes in. Beau Dickson, our editor, is amazing. Even though we were working together for the first time, I trusted his taste immediately – he has such a great sense of what makes a good shot or moment and what works in the edit. 

As for the music, Jess and Megan actually played me the track while we were still shooting and asked, “What about this one?” I thought it was great, and when we tried it in the edit, it fit perfectly.

LBB> You’ve said that the film “gives everyone permission to feel” – can you elaborate on that and how this notion informed the spot? Why was that important to communicate – for yourself and the brand – at this time of year?

Justyna> We’ve all been these characters, or we know someone who’s going through it. I think it’s important to communicate that it’s OK to feel blah during this time of the year. And what makes these films different is that Instacart is aware that their job isn’t to fix your life. I think that’s such a healthy, real perspective. 

Sometimes, when things get just a little bit better, that’s enough to shift the mood. In the film, the little brother starts to focus on what he does have, like spending the holiday with his sibling, rather than what he’s missing. It’s like Instacart helps to convert loneliness into belonging.