Indie Reviews
THE LEGEND OF OCHI Review: Richly Imagined Fantasy Adventure
Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, and Willem Dafoe star in Isaiah Saxon's family adventure.
INVENTION Review: Grief, Legacy, and Myth Collide in Hybrid Dramedy
Courtney Stephens and Callie Hernandez created a film that intricately blends personal history, archival footage, and fictional narrative to explore themes of grief, memory, and the fine line between reality and fantasy.
GUNSLINGERS Review: Come for Nicolas Cage, Stay If You Have 100 Minutes to Spare
Nicolas Cage, Stephen Dorff, and Heather Graham star in writer/director Brian Skiba's Western.
GAZER Review: Atmospheric Neo-Noir Crumbles Under Its Own Style
Frankie (Ariella Mastroianni) is already having a rough night, having just been fired from her gas station job, when it gets even more complicated as she starts to believe that she witnessed an act of violence. "Believe" is an operative...
FREAKY TALES Review: Four Freaky-ish Tales From The East Bay
A mysterious green fog leads to a wild week in the East Bay in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Freaky Tales. Narrated by legendary Oakland rapper, Too $hort, Freaky Tales is an interconnected anthology of bizarre, violent goings-on occurring over...
PSYCHO THERAPY: THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER Review: Reminiscent of a Fun 90s Indie Noir Comedy
Steve Buscemi, John Magaro, and Britt Lower star in director Tolga Karaçelik's film, which brims with absurdist humor.
THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA Review: Winning Against the Whammies
Lotteries, casinos, game shows: all forms of gambling that seem to be unofficial taxes on the poor. Not that the rich don't go to casinos, of course, and perhaps they might occasionally buy a lottery ticket. But this trifecta seems...
SCREAMBOAT Review: A Small Mouse Makes for Big Kills and Laughs
Riders on the Staten Island ferry run afoul a pint-sized terror on the last ride home, or, the last ride of their lives.
Panic Fest 2025 Review: THE HEDONIST Confirms a Distinct New Voice
Writer, director, and actor Nick Funess' new film also stars Amrita Newton and Izzi Rojas.
DARKEST MIRIAM Review: Librarians Are Open Books, Sometimes
Britt Lower and Tom Mercier star in director Naomi Jaye's highly-charged film.
Panic Fest 2025 Review: IT FEEDS, Face Your Trauma, Fight The Demon
Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Greene, and Ellie O'Brien star in Chad Archibald's new horror thriller.
Panic Fest 2025 Review: DOOBA DOOBA, A Cult Classic in the Making
Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Erin O'Meara, and Winston Haynes star in writer/director Ehrland Hollingsworth's adventures in babysitting, found-footage style.
Panic Fest 2025 Review: THE LOST EPISODE, Found Footage COPS
It's always funny when a movie has a clear reference point but can't afford the rights to directly reference it. The Lost Episode opens with on screen text informing us that what we're about to watch was originally recorded on...
THANK YOU VERY MUCH Review: In on the Joke, a Fitting Tribute
Forty years after his untimely death from cancer, Andy Kaufman's influence persists in popular culture. His cutting-edge humour was at best outrageous and at worst utterly infuriating. Basically, you either got it or you didn't. For those that hung in...
CANNIBAL MUKBANG Review: You Are What You Eat
Nate Wise and April Consalo star in director Aimee Kuge's horror film.
Berlinale 2025 Review BLUE MOON: Lyricist Lorenz Hart at a Crossroads
Richard Linklater's new film follows lyricist Lorenz Hart as he tries to salvage his career. Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott star.
Cinequest 2025 Review: I'M NOT AN ACTOR, A Long Distance Drama Unfolds
A man and a woman audition for a film; he from Frankfurt, Germany, her from Mumbai, India. He is a banker, she is a serious actor, but the only way they get the job is by working together over a...
Cinequest 2025 Review: VOICES CARRY, Grim Generational Trauma Thriller
If countless genre films have taught us anything, returning to a lake house where you spent your childhood and where some troubling events may have occurred is never a good idea. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Sam (Gia Crovatin) and her...
THE FISHBOWL Review: Freedom, Fate, and Family Collide
The history of Puerto Rico is the history of colonialism. The history of Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, is the history of American imperialism. During World War II, the United States forcibly expropriated most of the...
SXSW 2025 Review: BROTHER VERSES BROTHER, A Live Cinema Musical With A Huge Heart
Twin brothers roam the streets of San Francisco in search of their AWOL father in Ari Gold’s blissfully introspective live cinema musical, Brother Verses Brother. The fact that Brother Verses Brother recently added Francis Ford Coppola to its credit block...
