"The Fabelmans" centers on Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), an avatar for Spielberg. Sammy is a young filmmaker who becomes obsessed with making his own movies, all while his parents' (played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano) marriage is falling apart. The film is essentially a cinematography for Spielberg - His parents' divorce has had an impact on his work for a long time, and with "Fabelmans" he can deal with it head on. Although the film is often loaded with dramatic, dark moments and has an underlying message that devoting your life to art can leave you ultimately lonely and isolated, Fabelmans is also a warm, funny film. And the warmest, funniest scene comes at the end. As the film draws to a close, Sammy contemplates dropping out of college. He really wants to be a director, but is struggling to break into the business. He gets a savior of sorts when he gets an interview to work on the TV series Hogan's Heroes.

During the interview, Sammy makes it clear that his heart lies in movies, not TV. The co-creator of the series is receptive to this and points out that he shares office space with a legendary director. Would Sami like to meet him? Sammy says yes, of course. We quickly learn that the director is none other than John Ford, and as Sammy waits nervously in Ford's office, Ford eventually enters. Since Ford is played by David Lynch, the role immediately carries some weight. Here is a legendary director playing legendary director. Wearing an eyepatch and puffing on a cigar, Ford drollly remarks that he heard Sammy likes to "paint." He then asks Sammy what he knows about filmmaking - a question that understandably makes Sammy nervous. Ford, once the principal, gives Sammy a task: he asks him to go to the traditional Western-style painting on the wall and tell Ford what it says.

Sammy stutters on his way trying to describe what he sees in the picture. Ford, immediately annoyed, tells him that's not what he wants. "No, no," says Lynch-as-Ford, then asks, "Where's the horizon?" Lynch puts the perfect amount of inflection on the question, making it sound both simple and loaded. Sammy, confused, replies that the horizon in the picture is at the bottom. Ford directs him to another painting. Once again, Sammy awkwardly tries to describe what he sees, but again, Ford makes it clear that he just wants to know where the horizon is. In the picture, it is at the top. Satisfied, Lynch's Ford is finally ready to impart some wisdom. “Now remember this,” he says, “When the horizon is at the bottom, it's interesting. When the horizon is at the top, it's interesting. When the horizon is in the middle, it's boring as ***. Now, good luck getting it out of my office!”