The Tobias Wolff short story that Daniel had memorized and that "deals with the bending of time" is "Bullet in the Brain". It is about a book critic named Anders, while waiting in a long line at the bank he is the victim of an armed robbery and gets shot and killed. The short story consists of 1930 words including the title.
The painting that Daniel looks at the museum is "The Breakfast" (Le Petit Déjeneur, 1922) by Pierre Bonnard. It resides in High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
The Senegalese song that plays over Daniel's visit on the museum is "Amanke Dionti". The title can be translated as "She is Not Your Slave". The theme of the song is the status and treatment of girls who travel away from their poor families to work as maids in Senegalese cities. The song insists that these young women are not slaves and should not be treated as slaves.
Directed by acclaimed feature director David Lowery, whose work includes Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), Pete's Dragon (2016), A Ghost Story (2017) and The Old Man & the Gun (2018).
"The Mermaid Chair" is written by Sue Monk Kidd.