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VR Food
Movie + 1 extra
The quest for virtual food — infinite pizza, zero calories — hits a snag when inventors mistake a short film for competition. Malcom Mills directs the strange vision, “VR Food,” melding horror, sci-fi, and dark comedy in layers of dream-state flashes. Malcolm and Mallory are working together on a...
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Buzzkill
A young girl desperately tries to fit in with a group of South Florida teenagers. Kathy Mitrani directs “Buzzkill,” an evocative coming-of-age drama that unfolds in vivid waves of longing, curiosity, and recklessness. Adrian looks for an opportunity to join the roving band of teens as they frolic...
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My Mirror
Movie + 1 extra
A young woman living in Vancouver is suddenly contacted by her high-school boyfriend, who has appeared in the city after years of separation. “My Mirror,” directed by Zachary Lacosse, is a quiet, reflective portrait of a relationship — it moves in small ripples built around a solemn tone. After g...
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Amanda
Movie + 3 extras
On a never-ending channel surf through streaming platforms, TV shows, movies, and commercials, two friends talk on the phone about bad relationships and good storytelling. Jack Dunphy directs “Amanda,” an examination of media overconsumption alongside a provocative portrait of a messy friendship ...
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Sativa
A lonely weed dealer spirals when she tries to make conversation with an uninterested client. “Sativa,” directed by Kelly Cooper and Johnny Frohman, is an absurd sketch film built around a loopy performance from Cooper and a pointless query. Tynan DeLong plays a musician working on a dog food com...
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The Break Up
12 items
We've featured two films about break-ups in the last week -- "Breaking Up" and "Searching for the Wave" -- so we thought we'd take a look back at others we've featured in the genre. Here's a list of nine more which favor the darkly comedic, but also includes an EDM musical ("Heart Failure"), and ...
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Based on a True Story
Two aspiring writers in L.A. are secretly writing novels about each other as they spend their first evening together. Jens Josephs directs “Based on a True Story,” a sharp comedy exploring the personalities and inner monologues of a couple of egotistical dreamers, mutually repulsed by each other ...
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Breaking Up
A young couple surveys the state of their relationship, calling into question everything they once knew about each other. “Breaking Up,” directed by Claudia Nankervis and Jessica Sofarnos, is a heated drama about partnership and communication, and the punctures that threaten to dissolve such. Ste...
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Music For Plants
A colorful compendium pairing musical genres with varieties of flowers. Luke Strickler directs and animates “Music for Plants,” which visualizes a series of melodic mash ups — “Sunflower Ska,” “Punk Petunias,” “Dandelion Dubstep,” et al. Morphing seamlessly between styles and tones, each chapter ...
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Scary Car
Four friends parked in a car do a ceremony in the middle of the woods. It goes badly. Made by the preeminent Brooklyn comedy group, Simple Town, “Scary Car” is lo-fi horror comedy at its finest, a brilliantly executed account of an unexplainable occurrence. After a passionate conversation about U...
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Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Movie + 1 extra
On his 25th birthday, Cary brings his friends to the desert and requests one gift: for them to list everything they hate about him. “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” directed by Neal Suresh Mulani, is a sharp-tongued comedy about insecure friendships and going to extreme lengths to uncover true f...
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Girlhood
Movie + 3 extras
A high school freshman deals with the pressures of popularity when her best friend enters a new world of boys and alcohol. Jaelyn Ellis directs “Girlhood,” a coming-of-age snapshot on teenage social life and evolving friendships. Mia loves going to disco nights at the local roller rink, but her f...
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Eau Vive (Whitewater)
Between parties and dips in the river, Lou abandons herself to roam freely through the summer. “Eau Vive (Whitewater),” directed by the Swiss filmmaker Lucia Martinez Garcia, is a poetic snapshot attuned to the spaces and dispositions of a certain type of youth. In a dark room, Lou watches pornog...
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Next Stop
Movie + 1 extra
A woman turning 30 returns home dejected from life not living up to expectations. Chanel Dupree directs “Next Stop,” a surrealistic dark comedy that renders a dream-like quality in its melange of annoyances. She repeats affirmations to herself (“my destiny is bright and full”) while she avoids te...
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Digital Fortune Teller
Two friends spend the day together, one is a floating orb. “Digital Fortune Teller,” directed by Cooper Vacheron, is a homemade sci-fi vignette that follows a human and a digital assistant through a typical day in L.A. Tracking their exercise routines, water intake, general health and well-being,...
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Codependency
Movie + 1 extra
A campy queer, 1980's-esque dating show unravels into a dreamscape chaos of relationship expectations. The music video for “Codependency,” a song by comedian/musician Sofia Dobrushin, delivers catchy indie pop with colorful visuals, handmade set design, and choreographed dance routines. Dobrushi...
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Townsend's Last Night
Movie + 1 extra
Across a freezing night, confused dropout Cooper Townsend tries to make it home. “Townsend’s Last Night,” directed by Rhys Scarabosio, is a chaotic, lo-fi fever dream about a young man who has lost his way. Left desperately clinging to his only refuge — scribbling lyrics in an old notebook — the ...
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The Length of Your Rage
After an angry fight with his boyfriend, Thomas walks across Manhattan to cool off. Juan Pablo Rivera Garza & Charlie Sosnick direct “The Length of Your Rage,” a charmingly ragged comedy oozing with strange encounters between NYC oddballs. So says an Inuit tradition about anger, the length of one...
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Father, Can't You See I'm Burning?
Movie + 1 extra
In this unsparing portrait of a contentious relationship between father and child, a young filmmaker explores family history through impromptu interviews and old photographs. A reflexive essay documentary, “Father, Can’t You See I’m Burning?”, directed by Grant Conversano, offers a penetrating st...
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Cherry Cola
When Sherri gets arrested for shoplifting from work, she needs to find money for legal fees. Amandine Thomas writes, directs and stars in “Cherry Cola,” a dramatic portrait delivered with sharp-edged dialogue and vivid characterizations about a young woman on the verge of a breakdown. Living with...
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It's All Related!
A medley of overheard banter and personal musings about love and the cliches of love, i.e. “the same little message every night.” Directed by Peter Wagner, “It's All Related!” is an experimental animated film where mundane conversations about nachos, bitcoin, and psychiatry are flavored with a de...
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I Wish There Was A Guy Term For I Love You
Movie + 1 extra
In this collection of anonymous stories shared by queer men, a connection is drawn between queer life and nature. “I Wish There Was a Guy Term for I Love You,” directed by Andy Motz, is an experimental documentary narrated with tales of first time flings and intimate meet-ups framed as a series o...
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Gift of the Magi
Movie + 1 extra
On the eve of Three Kings Day, a boy answers a forbidden phone call and begins to understand his place among family secrets. “Gift of the Magi,” directed by Casiano R. Hamer, is a 16mm portrait that weaves together a tapestry of family history, Biblical stories, painful absences, and the possibil...
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We Should Get Dinner!
Estranged ex-step-siblings reunite over dinner but find themselves with opposing views on the future of their relationship. Eliza Jiménez Cossio and Lexi Tannenholtz direct “We Should Get Dinner!” a dark comedy about fractured bonds and lingering resentments. Abby and Sean grew up together but ha...