Alignment.

"The Metrograph's going to be playing a movie you like," I tell my dad.

"What is it?"

"The Secret of Roan Inish," I answer.

"Sayles?" he asks, which I hear as sails.

"Seals," I tell him.

And then we realize what just happened. Yes, John Sayles; yes, selkies. Yes, a setup and payoff I absolutely had to share.