Sundance 2026: “The Musical,” “Extra Geography.” and “Carousel”
For my final dispatch of Sundance 2026, I talk about three films I screened virtually from home (though I originally saw “The Musical” in Park City, but I enjoyed it so much I watched it a second time at home). Coming of age was a popular recurring theme in many of the films I screened […]
Sundance 2026: “Leviticus,” “I Want Your Sex,” and “The Invite”
As I got deeper into the festival and more sleep deprived, my second dispatch from Sundance saw some common themes begin to emerge in the films I was seeing. In a matter of two days, I had seen a number of films about sex and desire, tackling those topics to varying creative and successful degrees. […]
Sundance 2026: “The Lake,” “Silenced,” and “Saccharine”
When I landed in what would be the last Sundance in Park City, Utah, a notable feeling of gratitude washed over me. My first day was a frenzy of badge pick up, press screenings, and a star-studded “The Moment” premiere that evening. I ran from theater to theater, caught people’s names, an instagram handle, and […]
Hannah Welever on shaking things up with her sex positive short “Soirée”
Hannah Welever is a queer filmmaker based in New York, but her roots are Midwestern. In her newest short, “Soirée,” Welever creatively holds space for women’s bodies, and how often they are misunderstood. After an unfortunately awkward hookup gone awry, Reed (Naomi Walley) takes a literal trip inside her body, and meets the personification of […]
Sundance 2025: “Sally,” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake),” “Brides,” and “Sorry, Baby”
For my second Sundance dispatch, I exchanged my snow boots for my slippers, and viewed most of the films from the comfort of my couch. While certainly not comparable to watching movies in the snowy mountains, I felt a coziness in my experience at home. The excitement from the in-person festival was still fresh in […]
Sundance 2025: “Touch Me,” “Sauna,” “East of Wall,” “Sugar Babies,” and “The Librarians”
When I was thirteen, I remember scrolling through the movie channels of my parents’ television and finding a film called “Like Crazy,” which was labeled as a “breakout Sundance hit.” What was ‘Sundance,’ I wondered? This film began my interest and eventual education in what the Sundance Film Festival was. As my engrossment in the […]
CIFF 2024: “Nightbitch,” “Grafted,” “We Were Dangerous,” “Toxic,” and “The Missile”
This past year has seen a wave of female directed movies – whether it be horror, drama, or comedy – fixed upon the female body. Unsurprisingly, with the political climate of the past few years surrounding women’s bodily autonomy, many of the films I saw at Chicago’s 60th International Film Festival carried these same interests. […]
Sundance 40 Review: “Good One” Chronicles The Dark Side of Female Adolescence
A teenage girl goes on a camping trip with her father and his oldest friend. Typically, this type of movie would be a coming of age film, focusing on the ways in which the main character matures throughout the film. India Donaldson’s feature debut “Good One” is anything but that. Sam (Lily Collias) is about […]
Sundance 40 Review: A Multifaceted Exploration of Personal Girlhood in “Suncoast”
It is 2005 and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston have just split up. While the pop culture world cries out in despair, Doris (Nico Parker) recites the news to her mother Kristine (Laura Linney) as they move her brother into a hospice care center. It is apparent this was an outcome the two had been […]
Sundance 40 Review: An Intersectional Exploration of Transmasculinity and Identity Makes “Desire Lines” A True Standout
On Friday, January 19th, the Utah House of Representatives voted to advance a restrictive anti-trans bill outlawing trans people from using bathrooms aligning with their gender identity. It will now go to the Republican controlled senate for approval. Three days after the advancement, Jules Rosskam’s film “Desire Lines” premiered in Park City, Utah. A multilayered […]
Slamdance 2024 Review: Love and Manipulation Combine in Zoë Eisenberg’s Confident “Chaperone”
The decade between 19 and 29 is perhaps the most tumultuous time of anyone’s life. Each year brings on great change as you transition from adolescence to a fully formed adult. As anyone who is currently in their twenties can attest, this time period can bring immense joy and extremely low lows. You just hope […]
Sundance 40 Review: Klaudia Reynicke’s “Reinas,” a moving ode to sisterhood and motherhood
As children, there is little we perceive about the outside world that doesn’t directly impact our own inner world. Sacrifices made by parents go unnoticed. The danger we put ourselves in often doesn’t make itself clear to us until later in life. To mature is to shed these shades of self-absorption, to open our eyes […]