ORLANDO, Fla. — “Starring Jerry as Himself,” is probably what you think it is: the story of one man’s life, with him taking the lead role.

You won’t be long into this 1:15 film — which won the Grand Jury, Audience and Best Actor awards at the filmmaker-driven Slamdance Film Festival in February (a qualifier for the Oscars, by the way) — before you know where this “spy thriller” is going. And you’d be right.

But, “Starring Jerry as Himself,” which does in fact star Orlando retiree and Taiwanese immigrant Jerry Hsu, as well as his ex-wife and their three sons, as themselves, is much more than its most obvious endgame.

It is a small army of climactic revelations that approaches from the distance, disguised as a single, steady-walking soldier.

But, by the time he is standing in front of you, validating your suspicion, the silent, single-file line of truths behind the one you saw coming spring like ninjas.

Shot in Orlando, produced by middle son Jonathan Hsu and directed by Law Chen, the film is remarkably multilayered — but not merely for its genre-bending, or even its many reveals.

“Starring Jerry as Himself,” is also this family’s compelling, relatable real-life story.

As the film makes its way around the world, astonishing audiences and racking up festival awards from Park City, Utah, to Valencia, Spain, members of the local food and art scene are coming together, hoping this hometown story can gain traction here, as well.

At 8 p.m. on April 17, Redlight Redlight (2810 Corrine Drive in Orlando) will host a screening of the movie, followed by a Q&A moderated by local filmmaker Ben Clyde.

Redlight co-owner Erika Abalos-Hernandez has enjoyed a friendship with Joshua Hsu, Jerry Hsu’s youngest son, who is known locally as “Wellness Sheriff Hokkaido Hank,” for quite some time. Joshua pops up regularly at the award-winning brewpub/restaurant, offering chair massages to patrons.

Seeing his family’s film, Abalos-Hernandez says, moved her to action.

“As the child of an immigrant, I felt very connected to this movie and was so touched by it,” she says. “I felt like it needed to be shared, needed to be seen by everyone for all the reasons why I loved it.”

Guests are invited to show up early if they like, to enjoy drinks and bites priced a la carte. There is no cover for the patio screening, which will accommodate 40. Food and drink orders will be taken during the film, as well, after which Clyde will offer questions to Jerry and Joshua.

“The film is so awesomely weird in a way that makes it a true piece of art,” says Clyde, whose own films have garnered acclaim. “An American immigrant family playing themselves in a pseudo-documentary/re-creation film about their own lives being flipped upside-down is unlike anything I’d seen before.”

Reactions at screenings around the world, from New York City to Greece to Korea’s Busan International Film Festival, where the eldest Hsu was greeted like a Hollywood celebrity, have been similarly stunning says New York City-based producer, Jonathan Hsu, who for the past decade has worked on commercials for brands like Nike and JetBlue.

It’s how he met his friend and director Chen, with whom he has been producing short films for years. Jonathan is still semi-astounded their first feature dropped like bittersweet fruit from his own family tree.

The pair shot as a two-man crew some days, enlisting occasional help from Full Sail and UCF students along the way, using a script created from family interviews. Jonathan’s father contributed to the writing, as well.

Locations around Orlando are recognizable, including scenes at the beloved Mills 50 restaurant Chuan Lu Garden, as the story unravels in layers that become almost inception-like at the film’s culmination. That his father took home a Best Actor award for what is, at its core, a documentary, is unheard of, Jonathan says.

“If anything, ours is the perfect docu-drama,” he says of the film, which in places relies on recreation to tell Jerry’s story. “We didn’t cast anyone to play the family members. We were just in it. But it is a documentary because it did happen to all of us. It did happen to my father.”

There are moments that level up to meta, as even the recreations are “real.” They, too, document the aftermath of their father’s experience.

“It’s a triple-layer cake,” says Jonathan.

Shot in three formats — 4:3, 16:9 and the majesty of anamorphic cinematography — each represents a different point of view, a different kind of truth, all of them genuine as Jerry relives his trauma. And as his family comes to understand its many facets.

Like Abalos-Hernandez, like Clyde, like myself, audiences around the world have approached Hsu with tear-streaked cheeks after each screening, marveling at both the wildness and the commonality of the story, and at this septuagenarian’s stoic resilience in its wake.

“It’s intimate, vulnerable and extremely relevant for everyone with the topics it covers,” says Clyde.

The process of making the film, says Joshua, brought the family together in new ways, and with newfound appreciation.

“We’re more open in sharing our struggles now that we see what our collaboration can do,” he says.

It’s opening doors, too.

Eldest son Jesse Hsu, already a working actor in L.A., now has his first feature credit. Mom Kathy, a standout character just playing herself, is looking to try her luck in Hollywood, as well. And a connection made on the festival circuit has Jonathan now at work on his first sci-fi feature, “Trüebadour.”

But the Hsu family’s story, an Orlando story, deserves a shot at wider distribution. And locals who know them are getting behind the film, hoping to push it closer to release in American theaters, even as it plays in some of Japan’s largest.

“It all happened here,” says Abalos-Hernandez. “It was filmed here. And because Joshua is such a part of our lives, it felt really natural and right to me to host it.”

How to watch

Local screening: 8 p.m. on April 17 at Redlight Redlight, 2810 Corrine Drive in Orlando

Streaming: “Starring Jerry as Himself” is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Fandango at Home, DVD and Google Play.

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