This is a terrific analysis of the film.

Personally, I liked but didn't love The Fabelmans. Spielberg claims it is his most personal film, and that's fair enough (for all the reasons you get into here), but some of themes concerning divorce and so on come across far more powerfully in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, which for me remains the superior film.

The "Dad would believe me" scene isn't one of the most talked about scenes in E.T., but it is one of the most brilliantly acted, written, and directed scenes of the film, subtly and brilliantly getting across multiple layers of meaning. It starts as an amusing conversation, turning on that "Dad would believe me" line, and showing each character's preoccupations and concerns brilliantly: Elliot's deep sadness, loneliness, and immature lack of care for the feelings of others, Michael's anger at his brother and protectiveness of his mother (masking his own deep sadness, no doubt), Gertie's out of depth bewilderment at the emotional minefield in which she suddenly finds herself after Elliot says "He's in Mexico with Sally", and Mary's brave face front crumbling in front of her children ("He hates Mexico"). That single scene gets across the pain of divorce better than anything in The Fabelmans, I think.

But again - to be clear - I still liked The Fabelmans. My review is here, if you're interested:

https://medium.com/simon-dillon-cinema/film-review-the-fabelmans-7579208c9de5