Bob Odenkirk is firmly in his “Liam Neeson phase”: a middle-aged man reluctantly forced to kick a lot of ass in order to protect what really matters.

In Normal, he plays Ulysses, a rent-a-sheriff brought in after the previous sheriff dies in the sleepy town of, yes, Normal, MN. He’s meant to keep the seat warm until the heir apparent takes over, but for a town that prides itself on Midwestern blandness, something feels off. How does a place like this bankroll eight-figure upgrades to City Hall? Is the mayor’s (Henry Winkler) offer to extend his stay really no-strings-attached? And maybe it’s best not to look too closely at how his predecessor died. Of course, it all leads back to a stash of loot and some extremely unmerciful Japanese gangsters.

When a bank robbery from some desperate Normies Ulysses has taken a liking to (along with their dog, who is definitely a good boy), things start to go sideways. What follows is essentially one extended action sequence that quickly escalates from chucklesome to absurd to outright ridiculous. The cartoonish violence is so over-the-top it occasionally earns a laugh. I just wish it did so more often.

Prolific genre director Ben Wheatley helms this movie from a script by Odenkirk and Derek Kolstad (who wrote the previous Nobody films that also starred Odenkirk, as well as the John Wick films). I think they were going for something akin to Fargo meets The Naked Gun. The problem is that it doesn’t warrant a comparison to either. The Naked Gun movies throw so many jokes and bits and puns and gags at you it’s overwhelming and Fargo, the Minnesota-set black comedy/neo-noir, is the Coen Brothers’ very best film. Fight me.

Normal not without its merits: Bob Odenkirk is one of the easiest actors to enjoy watching and there are a few really funny moments, but this the type of movie that makes me cynical. Everyone involved seems to be in it for a paycheck and a laugh, but that laugh feels like it comes at the expense of the paying audience. I liked Nobody well enough but it is ground zero in the Bob Odenkirk-as-action-star arc. One of his co-stars, the mayor perhaps?, should tell him to stop before he’s asked to put on water skis.

Normal is now playing in theaters nationwide.

The post The Trouble with <em>Normal</em> appeared first on The SunBreak.

The SunBreak got a preview this week at a reception for press and members, but we are still soaking up the trailers, digesting the full lineup of 66 narrative features, 34 documentaries, 3 archival presentations, 2 secret films and 98 shorts from 71 countries/regions. Although we got a head start on the list of films – which among the features include 2 world premieres, 9 North American premieres, and 4 US premieres. With a majority (62%) of the entries coming from first or second-time filmmakers, it’s a program rich for discovery. Just under half are directed by women/non-binary filmmakers and many of the films come from BIPOC (49%) or LGBTQIA+ (19%) communities. Further, most also don’t yet have US distribution (67%); so attending SIFF represents a chance to be among the first viewers to find some hidden gems!

First up, Opening Night. SIFF kicks off the festivities at the Paramount with I Love Boosters on Thursday May 7th. The latest from Boots Riley (who will be in attendance) features Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige as a trio of radical shoplifters in Oakland taking on the excesses of the fashion industry (as represented by a mogul played by Demi Moore). After the film, make your way over to Cannonball Arts for an afterparty featuring gallery exhibits, a signature photo activation, food, drinks, and a live set from DJ Eliogold. Note, this is SIFF’s only official party this year — the closing soiree at the MOHAI is now a historical artifact — so plan to start the festival off big. (Tickets: $75 for the whole event; $45 for the film alone with discounts for SIFF members)

While we’re digging through the schedule and plotting our own agendas, we thought we’d start by each highlighting a film (or two) from the program that we’re most excited to see or recommend.

ROUNDTABLE: QUICK PICKS!

Chris: I’m a sucker for documentaries about people gaming systems of chance. I devoured the Big Bucks, the documentary about an ice cream man who figured out the patterns of “Pres Your Luck” and I wish McMillion$ (the HBO doc about McDonald’s Monopoly scam) was longer than six episodes. When I saw a doc in the SIFF guide called Beat the Lotto, it stuck out like a sore thumb for me. It’s about an Irish Area Man who finds a vulnerability in the Irish lottery. Yes, please. (May 13 & 17)

Morgen: Having an invested interest in the country and its people, I actually experienced this (from the perspective of a US citizen) in real time so I’m interested to see how much media here glossed over the story (it looks like about 90% was either ignored or purposely left out because media here think South Korea isn’t of interest. (May 9 & 10)

Josh: Perusing the schedule, SIFF picked up quite a few films that I saw and liked during this year’s Sundance Film Festival including unconventional Marianne Faithful documentary Broken English, Iranian portrait of contemporary artists and friendship The Friend’s House is Here, moving documentary of family and environmental activism To Hold a Mountain, action-styled documentary about a high wire rescue in Pakistan Hanging by a Wire, and visually stunning mediation on the intersection between nature and humans Nuisance Bear. (They also picked up Gregg Araki’s dull empty provocation I Want Your Sex; see it if you must for a solid Cooper Hoffman performance). Franz, Agnieszka Holland’s surreal Kafka biopic also made it over from TIFF. However, the one that I’ve thought the most about was an AI doc with local connections (including Microsoft’s early epic failures in chatbotting). Divided into eight chapters, Valerie Veatch’s crisply assembled documentary exposes the most pernicious lies at the core of the Artificial Intelligence movement. Both sobering and infuriating, her film also exposes the racist, sexist, prejudicial history of the models underlying this pernicious technology that threatens our society, the environment, and the global financial system. (May 10 & 11)

Chris: I will never not be fascinated with the story of Phoenix Jones, the Seattleite who dressed as a superhero and patrolled the mean streets of Belltown and Pioneer Square in the early morning hours. He had a precipitous fall in 2020 by being arrested for drugs, supposedly one of the issues that motivated him. Plus, I’ll watch anything that features Jon Ronson, who wrote the definitive (e)book about Jones. (May 16 & 17)

Morgen: I’m not one for horror/thrillers regularly, but psychological, thought-provoking and witty stories grab me no matter what genre. I feel the same about Jordan Peele movies, even though I typically don’t go after a scary thrill in the theater. Mārama is about anti-colonialism and one of several indigenous films in the festival this year. It looks intense and visually delicious.

Josh: Ferndale-born Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians) brings audiences along for an immersive documentary experience centered around a single day at a local Powwow. The director, poet, and photographer was the recipient of the Seattle Film Critics Society’s John Hartl Pacific Northwest Spotlight Award (previous recipients include Lily Gladstone and Kyle Maclachlan). This year’s award will be presented during SIFF on May 17th. In addition to the SIFF screenings of his feature-length documentary, SFCS is also hosting “An Evening With Sky Hopinka” satellite event at Northwest Film Forum featuring a curated collection of his short films followed by a discussion and reception. (May 16 & 17)

OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS

Aside from Opening Night, SIFF has designated a few other screenings as spotlights and events. On Tuesday May 12th Cross Faded Cinema will employ the talents of SIFF stalwart DJ NicFit to spin a new soundtrack for Wes Craven’s franchise-ancohoring horror series A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddie Kreuger inspired his share of sleepless nights; seeing him wreaking terrors upon the dreams of 80s teens on SIFF Downtown’s giant screen alongside trippy turntable beats is sure to bring its share of scares to generations new and old. On a still-musical, but slightly more wholesome note, John Carney’s latest entry in a career of moviemaking about musicians bonding over music Power Ballad features Paul Rudd as a wedding singer and Joe Jonas as a fading boy band star (range!). It plays Opening Weekend and is sure to get you up in the feels (if you’re susceptible to Carney’s frequencies). Finally, the festival closes on Sunday May 17th at SIFF Downtown with The Invite. Starring and directed by Olivia Wilde (who will be in attendance), the film co-stars Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton as couples at an awkward and incisive dinner party. Among the buzziest films at Sundance, A24 won the bidding war to distribute it. See it ahead of your own neighbors for $40 on the last night of the festival.

Finally, Secret Fest, SIFF’s most exclusive film club, is back. Buy a pass for $44 ($39 members) and get access to two Sunday morning movies that you’ll never be allowed to reveal that you saw. Allegedly/hypothetically/unconfirmed rumblings suggest that these can be anything from films promised to other festivals, rare archival presentations, or underground films rarely seen. The pass and an oath of secrecy get you in. 

Hyped yet? Let’s start memorizing this year’s trailer so that we can all quote along with it by Closing Night!

DEEP DIVES 

• Find your films: The festival is organized into multiple intersecting systems, suitable for satisfying various worldviews or problem-solving styles. For the analytic among us, Film Finder lets you search the program with simple queries or dizzying arrays of categorical complexity (not yet ChatGPT-enabled, though). Start with the fairly straightforward – Country/Region, Director, Genre – to narrow your choices.Film Finder shows you exactly which movies can be watched from home during the festival’s streaming encore week (note that a few are limited to Washington only).
• The Awards Race: If you’d rather match your tastes against expert juries, consider following one of the competitions and see if your favorite aligns with the pros. This year’s juried races include the Official Competition, Documentary, New American Cinema, Ibero-American, and New Directors competitions as well as Short Film competitions divided between documentary, narrative, and animated juries.
• Themes: Finally, SIFF has selected films as part of an an array of programs, some of which partially overlap with each other and/or the competitions. They’re loosely grouped by geography/identity (African Pictures, Asian Crossroads, Ibero-American Cinema, World Cinema, New American Cinema, cINeDIGENOUS, Northwest Connections), themes (Culinary Cinema, Face the Music), appropriateness for younger audiences (Films4Families for kids of all ages), degree of boundary-pushing (Alternate Cinema experimentations all the way to WTF), as well as format (Documentary Films, Archival Films and Short Fest). Yes, some of these programs have competitions within them. Others are festivals within festivals. SIFF contains multitudes!
• Trust the experts: If you’re still stuck, browse the expert advice of the Programmer Picks. This year, 20 tireless SIFF programmers collectively watched something like 6000 films to build the program. They then each identified top bets among the festival’s riches so that you could benefit from their expertise. You could either choose one programmer and follow their lead or go with the consensus!

PLANNING

• Plan ahead. Get to know the SIFF website. Browse the sortable searchable Film Finder to drill down on your heart’s desires.
• Guestwatch: Getting to hear from the filmmakers is one of the biggest perks of an in-person film festival! Keep an eye out for festival guests if you like the opportunity to hear a filmmaker’s take on their work or to have them answer your awkward question following the screening (kidding, but also not). Be sure to check ahead to see if guests will be at the screening for a Q&A, for timing and scheduling purposes, if not for celeb-watching.
• Technology is your friend! The SIFF app is no more, but you can keep an eye on the various SIFF Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram pages for updates, so you’ll have the heads up before a screening sells out.
• This year’s festival has is in-person only. You may have gotten used to being able to catch up with the festival from home, but this year you’ll have to join the queues and see them in theaters.
• The festival also posts daily updates to their online calendar, coding screenings as “limited availability” or “standby” to alert you to whether tickets are selling fast. 

BUYING

• Individual tickets for most films cost $22 ($19 for members) and can be purchased online.
• Passes: Perhaps you’re ready to join the the ranks of the passholders? A film pass runs $500 ($350 SIFF members) and gets you into all regularly-priced festival screenings as well as to a series of preview screenings (typically three per weekday from April 27-May 7). A premiere pass gets you all of that plus you can cut ahead of regular passholders in line and get invited to the Opening Night Film and Party, Closing Night Film, and the Golden Space Needle Awards (on May 17th). At this point, that’ll cost you $1600 (or more likely $1200 if you’re a SIFF member).
• Packages: Even if you don’t want to spring for that level of commitment, you can still get a six pack of tickets for $110 ($92), which is close to a BFGO deal. You can use up to two tickets per screening, so feel free to split with a buddy. 
• Take a chance: If a film is sold out, all hope isn’t lost, but getting into a film via the standby line is a complete crapshoot — don’t count on it for a popular film. But if a miracle does occur, those tickets are full price and “cash preferred.”

VENUES

• Venues: With Pacific Place, the Egyptian (RIP), and Shoreline out of the mix, most films playing in or near SIFF’s Lower Queen Anne playground: SIFF Cinema Uptown (3 screens), the SIFF Film Center, and PACCAR IMAX at Pacific Science Center. Films also play a few blocks away at SIFF-e-rama (a.k.a. SIFF Downtown).

PRACTICALITIES

• If you’re particular about where you sit, there’s no such thing as arriving too early. In normal times, it was fair to expect every screening to have a long line and a full house. Still, as long as you have a ticket, you’ll have a seat. Ticketholders are usually let into the theater about 30 minutes in advance of showtimes, but SIFFgoers are a bunch who love to queue. Passholders get in first, but there are a limited number of seats set aside for them; so even with a pass, you should show up in time to secure a spot, particularly for movies with big buzz.
• Regarding those long lines: When you roll up, don’t be surprised to see a line stretching from the theater doors. Don’t panic, as long as you have a ticket and arrive ahead of time you should be fine. Instead, be prepared with an umbrella, sunglasses, sunscreen, a light jacket, and some reading material to pass the time. Layers and preparedness are core tenets of PNW culture.
• Consider subtitles. If your film has them and you’re not fluent, find a seat with a clear view of the bottom of the screen. Aisle left or right is generally a good bet, particularly if you’re worried about someone with great posture or above average skull circumference directly in front of you.

Finally, despite all of this strategic advice, it really never hurts (too much) to try your luck with whatever happens to be playing on whatever night you happen to be free. Not every screening has an interminable line, sometimes that scary-looking line is just hard-core SIFFers with time on their hands and/or an ingrained sense of promptness. Many many times you may walk right into a half-empty theater and end up seeing your favorite movie of the year. It’s the chance to experience seeing something you enjoy on some level, if only just a window to a different world/experience than what you’re used to. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

The post SIFF 2026: Quick Picks Roundtable, Tips, and Tricks for the 52nd Annual Seattle International Film Festival appeared first on The SunBreak.

Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) has followed the familiar trajectory from enfant terrible to full-blown crank. Once a renowned artist, he now spends most of his time not painting and recording Cameo-style videos—often for mothers urging their children to pursue art (in this economy?). Dressing is optional. There was also a regrettable stint as a judge on a reality show that makes Simon Cowell look like the Easter Bunny.

The subject that causes the most fascination around Sklar, though, is “the Christophers,” a series of seven unfinished paintings of a former male lover ages ago. (Full disclosure: I was born a Christopher.) What if we learn, upon Julian’s death, that the Christophers aren’t unfinished at all? That would be quite lucrative for his awful children Sally and Barnaby (Jessica Gunning and James Corden). For them, Sklar’s less-than-zero interest in finishing the paintings before he dies is not so much a slammed door as an inconvenience.

The younger Sklars reach out an acquaintance of Sally’s for help: Lori Butler (Michaela Coel). She’s also an art restorer and an artist in her own right. The plan is to get her a job as their father’s assistant and that would give her the access to the paintings to finish the remaining six (the explanation for why six and not seven caused one of the biggest laughs I’ve had in a theater, at least since SPAMALOT.

With some reluctance, Lori accepts the job. She has a few axes to grind with Senior Sklar, and forging his lost masterpieces becomes a quiet form of revenge. She’s written some lukewarm blog posts about how he’s lost his way: the usual complaints about an old white man failing to reaffirm his progressive bona fides. That proves to be ill-advised.

Pro tip: assume elderly people don’t know how to google at your own peril.

Directing a script from Ed Solomon, Steven Soderbergh’s newest has a lot going for it. The interplay between Coel and McKellen is often fun and smart. It also has the trappings of a Soderbergh film: a brisk pace, sharp dialogue, and you’re never really sure about whose loyalties lie where. The Christophers isn’t as sleek as his previous Black Bag, but few are. The ending loses a little steam but the generational tension between Coel and McKellen and the the unholy combination of greed and stupidity from Sally and Barnaby generates plenty of laughs. Moreover, there’s something almost too on-the-nose about casting James Corden as an insufferable failson.

The film may stumble at the finish, but it understands something essential: in the art world, as in families, the true masterpiece is knowing exactly how much you can get away with.

Previous coverage.

_____________________________________________

The Christophers opens at SIFF Cinema Uptown on Thursday, April 16.

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Imagine being stuck in an endless loop through a subway station hallway. If you aren’t meticulous enough to notice any little detail that alters from the “original”, you start all over again. It seems simple enough, right? I mean you just memorize all the minute details about every aspect in the hallway, but make a mistake and you start over… but the stakes start to rise, your secret innermost fears are brought to light and you could even start losing your mind. Not so simple.

For folks that don’t run in these kinds of circles (me being one of them), the new psychological thriller by Japanese filmmaker Genki Kawamura, Exit 8, is based on a video game of the same name released not two years before the creation of the film. As the plot became clear within the first few minutes, I briefly wondered “how can they stretch this into an hour and half story?”; but then you could say the same thing about Groundhog Day and look how that turned out. Unlike the aforementioned Bill Murray joint, Exit 8 is not comedic in the slightest, but just as thought-provoking. On the contrary it is quite anxiety-inducing just like it’s video game predecessor; lets just say I’m glad I don’t play video games like this.

If you’re past the age of 15, then you’ve probably had to make choices that you’d rather run away from and this film preys on insecurities, pushing viewers to confront aspects of life that we’d all rather leave behind. The Lost Man lead was relatable, but also brought to mind our lowest points emotionally and mentally. To make matters worse, Kawamura added fear-induced asthma to our protagonist’s burdens giving me a little unexpected taste of hyperventilation. Combining the physical and psychological had me taking a deep breaths just to reassure that I wasn’t the one in the middle of the mess . There are brief overtly horror-y moments, but by and large this is a character and story driven film and I was whole-heartedly in it. I tend to fall deep into any plot, even the most ridiculous (I may hide tears more often than not from my fellow critics), but these types of existentially probing storylines swallow me whole and I’m happily consumed.

A fun note to end on, to commemorate Exit 8’s incarnation as a feature film, Kawamura — working in tandem with Kotake Create — will release a new “anomaly,” or extension, of the popular video games. So if you’re into existential dread for fun, then have at it. I’m sure it’ll have you short of breath, or at least facing your inner demons, in no time.

Exit 8 is in theaters now

The post <i>Exit 8</i> gives us all existential (and real) dread appeared first on The SunBreak.

For an entire generation, 1978’s Faces of Death became the most grotesquely alluring of cinematic forbidden fruit when it hit home video in the early 1980s. The movie stirred together gruesome news footage, not-always-convincing pseudo-documentary sequences, and accidentally-captured real-life grotesquerie into one decidedly unsettling gumbo. And while it play-acted as a sincere examination of mortality, it also subjected viewers to the kind of sensationalistic shocks that could only be classified as exploitation of the most wonderfully gratuitous variety. 

The movie’s lo-fi, patchwork execution (and a much less media-savvy environment) lent a weird sense of creepy verité ambiguity to even its most flagrantly phony moments. Plainly put, dumbstruck viewers felt like they were seeing something they were never, ever meant to see. And they couldn’t look away. 

Faces of Death was far from the first movie to smack audiences upside their heads with a combination of real-life imagery and con-man theatrics—an entire subgenre known as the Mondo Movie had been already been blazing this dubious trail for almost twenty years. But Faces’ wide circulation on VHS, its garishly creepy video box art, and some lightning-fast, old-school word of mouth combined to make it a massive hit. 

At least four direct-to-video sequels, scores of equally stomach-churning knockoffs, and a whole lot of outrage followed. Multiple countries banned it outright. Great Britain even threw it into the crosshairs of that country’s Thatcher-era Video Nasties witch hunt.

Then the ensuing decades saw an increase in viewer sophistication (regarding special effects, at least), the onslaught of reality television, and the hellscape that is the internet, all of which effectively diluted Faces of Death’s initial blunt-force impact. 

Viewed today and divorced from the mystique that once preceded it, the movie generates an odd combination of revulsion, amusement, and (for the right horror hardcore demographic) nostalgia. It stands as a fascinating relic of a time when the public could still have its collective skull walloped by something unexpected. Vinegar Syndrome, one of the top boutique video labels currently in operation, is even capitalizing on the movie’s cult following with a painstakingly remastered, extras-packed Faces of Death 4K that’s as respectfully crafted as a Criterion Collection reissue of some hallowed arthouse classic. 

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood’s fetish for remakes and reboots of established genre properties extended to even this most unsavory of horror franchises. The end result—a brand-new fictionalized sort-of reboot, also entitled Faces of Death—hits theaters everywhere today. 

Thankfully, this reimagining avoids wallowing in the real-life autopsy, morgue, natural disaster, and animal slaughter footage that partially defined the first. And happily (if you could really ascribe happiness to anything associated with the Faces of Death franchise), this imperfect but surprisingly worthwhile update delivers solid performances, a few genuine surprises, and some world-class white-knuckle scares/shocks.

The new Faces of Death zeroes in on the Been There, Done That, Seen Everything climate currently pervading the 21^st century, opening with a rapid-fire barrage of real-world internet content. Protagonist Margot (Barbie Ferriera), a moderator at a video platform called Kino, plows through a litany of posted videos, flagging them for approval or denial, when two stylized clips of apparent murders cross her workload. Apparently posted by different sources, they share a distinctive aesthetic—mannequins wielding tools of murder, as they snuff out actual human beings in harrowingly realistic fashion. Worse yet, they’re re-enactments of scenes from the original Faces of Death.

Soon, Margot’s defying company policy to ID the sources of the videos, unearthing information on possible victims, using modern technology to confirm the reality of the filmed deaths, and attempting to track down the (possible) killer. Not surprisingly, shit gets real, really fast.

This reboot’s script by director Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei attempts to address a lot for a low-budget modern horror flick. It levels a righteously angry stink-eye at internet culture and its tendency to numb its consumers to even the most loathsome content. Corporations turning a blind eye to the unconscionable in the service of profit rear their head. Goldhaber and Mazzei also explore the meta nature of the thematic threads directly connecting this new Faces of Death to the original.

How effectively Faces of Death follows up on these oft-heady elements, however, varies wildly. Sometimes its over-over-the-top blows against its chosen targets just land with a thud; other times, that hyperbolic approach nicely amplifies the dark humor (Pop singer Charli XCX mines some darkly farcical gold in her small role as Margot’s dead-eyed, terminally nonplussed coworker). When the movie embraces its inner serial-killer, it betrays a lot of debt to Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs without really adding much beyond its ‘The Internet Sucks’ manifesto; but the copycat killings, done with the kind of realism allotted by 40+ years of special effects advances, serve up a stylish and seriously disturbing call-and-response with the source material.

That jerkiness generates some real frustration at times. But the most cogent trait by which a horror movie should be judged is how effectively it scares and unsettles the viewer. And on that front, Goldhaber hits a home run. He’s invaluably aided in that objective by Ferreira, whose ostensible final girl exhibits the kind of tenacity, pluck, vulnerability, and obsessiveness that renders her the most riveting of audience avatars (mega bonus points for her being a queer, plus-sized woman whose build and sexuality remain NBD throughout the entirety of the movie). 

Even when the script occasionally hobbles her by steering her into doing Dumb Horror Movie Character Things amidst a couple of Dumb Contrived Horror Movie Trope Moments, there’s never an instant when audience support and empathy for her wane. And warts and all, the movie’s last half builds some damn near unbearable tension thanks to Goldhaber’s assured work at the helm.

Ferreira’s also the reason that the escalating sensory overload of the movie’s ending ultimatey lands. Without spoiling anything, her full-throttle energy in the final stretch drives home one of this reimagining’s bluntest but most relevant points: In the end, thanks to the pervasive influence of algorithms and the animal impulses they exploit, anyone diving too deeply into the fetid waters of the web can end up subjecting themselves to a proverbial Faces of Death of their own making.  

Faces of Death opens Friday, April 10 in theaters everywhere. Image Courtesy IFC/Legendary Pictures.

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With something always tantalizingly out of reach, Christian Petzold’s films carry a certain rigor of academic riddles, albeit koans populated by characters nursing their own quiet tragedies. With vibrant interiority, Paula Beer’s melancholic university music student becomes a makeshift bandage for a rural family in the wake of a freak car crash. With a fairy tale quality, it becomes a story of parallel rebirth and healing. The great pleasure is in waiting for the final puzzle piece to fall into place, revealing an unexpectedly richer, fuller whole.

Opening with a dreamlike quality, we first encounter Laura (Paula Beer, Petzold’s current muse) in quiet contemplation of a waterway below an ugly Berlin overpass. Exploring further, she explores the shoreline below where a shadowy stand-up paddler glides past silently, evoking a ferryman traversing the worlds of the living and dead. In her cozy, loose-knit pink duck-emblazoned sweater, she’s a young woman adrift in a fog of her own isolation. Having misplaced her bag, she arrives home to her apartment to a boyfriend annoyed that she’s been out of touch and late for a convertible ride to the countryside for a boating excursion with influential musician friends. Her boyfriend is the sort to pick up an interesting synth, trust his girlfriend to identify the key of a classic Dutch pop song on the car’s stereo, but not sensitive enough to care why she immediately wants to leave rather than spend the day on the lake.

Even here, in approximately the modern day and real world, Petzold’s filmmaking has a surreal yet naturalistic quality. Laura and an older woman standing alone, staring blankly from the curb of a country road, exchange portentous glances as their car speeds by. The encounter will repeat moments before an offscreen car accident causes her boyfriend to exit the film while Laura walks away miraculously unscathed, albeit even further dazed.

That woman, Betty (Barbara Auer, also in her third collaboration with Petzold), is the first to arrive on the scene of the crash. She brings Laura away from the wreckage, back to her house. Of her own volition, Laura requests to stay in the company of this apparent stranger rather than returning to her home or to seek further medical attention. Perhaps more oddly [or merely German civic-mindedness], Betty immediately agrees, setting Laura up with a bed, competently unobtrusive room service, a change of well-fitting clothes, and enrichment activities out of Tom Sawyer like helping to paint her white picket fence. 

From the small disarrays of the country house, calling Laura by the wrong name, and the way that Betty’s estranged husband (Matthias Brandt) and adult son Max (Enno Trebs, both also fellow Petzold three-timers) assume she’s gone off her pills when she invites them to dinner and they find a table set for four, it’s fairly easy to deduce the nature of the unresolved absence in their family’s life. They’re men of few words, mechanics who work from their own shop with a sideline in modifying electronic tracking systems in wealthy clients’ high-end automobiles. More comfortable working with their hands than expressing themselves, their long silences and meaningful eye contact upon seeing Laura speak volumes. It’s a credit to the expressive quality of the entire cast’s acting that so much of the storytelling happens through wordless gestures and silent reactions, but this is especially true for how Paula Beer’s big blue eyes work wonders to connect us to a character whose distresses may be a mystery even to herself. 

As the days of Laura’s respite stretch on, her presence becomes a balm for a fractured marriage. Even as she gets to know Max, sharing beers and listening to music (an impeccable Frankie Valli needle drop) while he repairs a broken bicycle to help her get around, he remains unsettled by her presence. For much of her stay, nothing really happens — meals become less awkward, a dishwasher breaks, the merits of plum cakes are debated — but the oddity of the days stretching on without anyone daring to broach the subject of why she’s there contributes to a sense of quietly mounting unaddressed tension. Amid seemingly aimless summer days soundtracked mostly by breezes and birdsong, Petzold balances coziness with borderline unbearable eeriness.

Neither dream nor nightmare, the spell of must eventually break. As the charade comes crashing down around them all and its absurdity comes into focus, the severance reveals that grief, trauma, and recovery rarely proceed in straight lines. Instead, recalibrations come in fits and starts. Stasis gives way to forward movement in the afterglow of brief surrender to respites of fantasy, be it indulging in echoes from the past or succumbing to an unspecified desire to temporarily disappear from the world. Even upon awaking, shaking off the confusion, the world continues with a new sense of normalcy. You can leave the past behind, but still you can never leave more than you found. 

Miroirs No. 3 continues its theatrical rollout in Seattle this weekend, with screenings at SIFF Uptown.
An earlier version of this review appeared as part of our coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where the film had its North American premiere.

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Kristoffer Borgli’s newest film, The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, is a—you guessed it—drama masquerading as a rom-com, but with only bits and pieces of romance and comedy; instead, as the title suggests, it leans very heavily on the drama.

The film takes place in the week leading up to Charlie (Pattinson) and Emma’s (Zendaya) wedding. Borgli asynchronously tells the story of the happy couple’s dating relationship through memories and stories that so effortlessly encapsulate their love, it’s hard not to fall head over heels for their relationship. And this strong foundation of supporting their future marriage becomes all the more important as their lives begin to fall apart. 

When at a last-minute menu tasting with their best man, Mike (Mamoudou Athie), and maid of honor, Rachel (Alana Haim), the four decide to confess the worst things they’ve ever done. The confessions range from immature mistakes to borderline criminal, resulting in Charlie rethinking his commitment to Emma and her friends turning against her.

One of the worst parts about reviewing this film is maintaining the secrecy of the twists and plot points that beg to be dissected deeper. But don’t worry, I would never dare spoil it for you. I just question the studio’s choice to keep this particular hot-button, triggering topic so under wraps. It’s not that I don’t think they should talk about it; I’m all for dissecting (primarily American) problems, and I think the film handles it fairly respectfully. I just worry about the repercussions for those more closely tied to events similar to the film. But that’s far more a marketing problem than a story problem, and I commend Borgli for tackling important issues and creating a space for hard conversations.

All that said, Emma’s confession is life-altering for Charlie. The two fall apart as their wedding date inches closer and closer. Pattinson brings a deep angst to Charlie as his entire being crumbles under the weight of his new reality. Zendaya is equally impressive, although hers is a more subtle performance as she confronts old feelings and memories, as she also deals with the nerves of being a bride. And yet, through it all, you can feel the real love and connection between these characters.

Borgli plays up the rom-com tropes to juxtapose happy Hollywood endings with the dumpster fire that has become Charlie and Emma’s wedding. But the romance never quite goes away for me. Zendaya and Pattinson have a chemistry that permeates every scene and leaves me hopeful for their future, even as the film is screaming at me to think otherwise. 

Ultimately, The Drama is a story about second chances and how many you’d give to the ones you love. It asks the audience, Are we defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done? (What about the worst thing we’ve ever thought?) Borgli won’t hand you the answer; that’s for you to decide. The Drama is a film that demands to be thought about and discussed long after the theater lights come on, and that is where much of its beauty lies.

The Drama arrives in theaters on April 3
Image courtesy of A24

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After leaving the theater for the latest Super Mario Brothers movie, I thought, “This movie is cool to look at, the animation is impressive, and the story is thin but harmless, and it’s still a fun time. That’s basically what I said three years ago, the last time a Mario movie hit theaters and I feel the same way with this new movie.

The gang is mostly back together: Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt), Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day), Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy), Bowser (voiced by Jack Black), and Toad (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key). Missing is Donkey Kong but there are a few additions, like Princess Rosalina (voiced by Brie Larson), Yoshi (voiced by Donald Glover) and Bowser Jr. (voiced by Benny Safdie). There’s a few other surprise characters that I won’t reveal because of the reaction at the preview screening I attended. Plus I’m tired of typing “voiced by.”

This story is about Rosalina being captured by Bowser the Younger and Princess Peach must try to save her. Nintendo canon has no familial relationship between Peach and Rosalina, even though they look pretty close to identical. Rosalina has impressive bangs that cover one eye, like she’s a Green Beret. Anyway, Mario, Luigi and the others involve themselves in the plot to get Rosalina back. Even miniature Bowser is along for some of the ride.

No character is crafted particularly well or has any depth. The only thing we learn about Mario is that he’s comfortably in the friendzone with Princess Peach, which isn’t exactly top secret. But if you show me someone expecting character depth in a Super Mario Brothers movie, I’ll show you a fool.

Still, I found myself having a good time. The action sequences are very cool and there were a few good laughs in there. It’ll probably make a bazillion dollars at the box office and I’m fine with that.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens everywhere on Wednesday, April 1. Literally everywhere. No joke.

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Amanda Ogle (Rose Byrne) is more like the average American that we want to admit. She has been living out of her car in the painfully expensive city of Seattle for more than six months and just as she finds a job that could pull her out of the mire, someone steals her car. After a little joy ride it’s ditched and towed. If any of you have experienced this, you know that not only do you have a ticket from the city to pay for but an extra salt in the would fee for “storage” at the lot by the private towing company. Even though it wasn’t her doing, the bill was up to her to handle. When you barely have the funds to feed yourself, this fee is untenable. While looking for a place to lay her head and hoping against hope she’ll have transport by the time her new job starts, she goes to the city to right this wrong and get her damn car back. As you can imagine, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if she was successful on the first try. It’s a story of finding hope in a desperate moment and perseverance when someone is trying to beat you down.

I did enjoy the film and being based on a true story gave me pangs in my heart the entire time. Knowing that the legal team for a company would purposely and maliciously go out of their way to make someone suffer (especially someone who is already dealing with enough) is almost too overwhelming to watch much less experience. The fact that she had a teenaged kid in another city that was unreachable without the missing car was broken glass on a poop sundae.

That being said, Tow was a Disney-fied version of reality. It glossed over a lot of the deep trauma and issues that folks like Amanda suffer on the daily even without someone much richer and more privileged making it ten times worse. We find out at one point that she suffers from addiction, had been dry for a while, but with all that was going on fell down again, but it’s almost treated like a moment of dark humor so that the film could remain light and digestible. I get that the times we live in are absolute garbage if you aren’t loaded or have dark skin, but don’t sugarcoat a story that reveals the truth of our times. It’s one thing if you’re trying to keep the film moving along and not lose the audience, it’s another to make light of their lived experience.

Telling this story is important just to know that we should still eat the rich. I appreciated the end where we were quickly introduced to the protagonist’s real life counterpart, her teen and the lawyer who dedicated himself to helping her. It gave the experiences we had just witnessed a bit more heft and an extra heavy moment for Seattleites seeing them sitting on the bench at the pinnacle of Gasworks Park. Worth seeing, but maybe not in the theater.

Tow is in theaters starting this weekend 3/20

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It’s been seven years since the Le Domas mansion went up in flames, but Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up right where the first film leaves off—and I mean exactly where it leaves off. We even get an extended version of the final scene from the first film. Immediately after the Le Domas fire, Grace is taken to a hospital where her emergency contact is called, her sister, “biologically speaking,” Faith (Kathryn Newton) is called, and the two have an unwanted family reunion.

If you’re like me (and by that I mean obsessed with crime documentaries), you were probably a little worried about the legal repercussions for Grace (Samara Weaving). The second film tries to address these issues, but before any real legal action can be taken, Grace is thrown headfirst into another fight for her life. After the death of the entire Le Domas family, the High Council must convene for the first time since 1963 to decide who will hold the High Seat. Grace and Faith are drugged and left on a golf course, and in a near fight to the death (à la The Hunger Games), each head of the remaining families who serve La Bail attempts to be the first to kill Grace and claim the High Seat. The games are led by La Bail’s lawyer (Elijah Wood), who keeps everyone in line as they fight for, ironically, a ring of power.

The highlight of this film was the decision to put Grace and Faith in this fight together, which allows for much more character exploration than in the first film. Since Grace isn’t alone in her fight to survive, the audience is able to learn about her past and connect with her feelings. One of the biggest flaws of the first film, in my opinion, was the lack of explanation for many character motivations (aside from simple self-preservation), and Ready or Not 2 seems to swing the other way completely. Grace now has something more to fight for besides herself, adding a deeper emotional layer to the story. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good sister love story.

The cast of new characters introduces more billionaire idiots we love to hate, led by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy playing Ursula and Titus Danforth, siblings determined to keep their family in the council’s High Chair, no matter how many rules they have to bend. And my personal favorites, Varun Saranga and Nadeem Umar-Khitab, as the Rajan brothers, club owners who seem to be perpetually living out their teenage fantasies and are woefully unprepared for a real battle. Bringing together multiple high-profile families adds a sense of competition and variety that was missing in the first film.

While the film isn’t immune to the cheesiness and predictability that many horror films fall into, it’s filled with some great campy horror moments that will stay with viewers long after the credits roll. It balances the emotional reconciliation of Faith and Grace, the intense torture they endure, and never takes itself too seriously. No matter how gory or hopeless the story gets, you won’t be able to stop smiling.

One of the best parts of this film is that it works as a standalone story. While the audience gets a bit of background through Grace’s flashbacks at the beginning, those flashbacks aren’t even necessary to understand the plot (not least because every character besides Grace died in the first movie). It’s a story that will appeal to fans of the original as well as newcomers with little or no knowledge of the franchise.

Ready or Not: Here I Come arrives
In theaters this weekend

Image courtesy Searchlight Pictures .

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