As we approach the 2025 iteration of the Tribeca Film Festival, Josh and Allison are here for a few highlights to look out for. Don’t let these eleven special films out of your crosshairs. Check out the picks after the jump!
DEEP COVER
Three improv comedians working with the cops to carry out sting operations—could anything go wrong? In Deep Cover, it turns out the answer is actually “yes and…,” leading to a series of hilarious and increasingly ridiculous situations as only a UK title could embrace. Led by a three-tiered cast of exciting talent including Orlando Bloom, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Nick Mohammed, the true fun begins to emerge when their respective characters are eyed by detectives as very dangerous criminals. Their violent acts come by way of accidental collateral damage too random to ignore. Fans of reluctant violence and cheeky slapstick humor will want to improvise their way to an early festival screening before Deep Cover heads to Prime Video on June 12th.
DRAGONFLY
Hungry for more Andrea Riseborough after her surprise Oscar nomination? Look no further than chilling, overtly bleak character study, Dragonfly. What begins as a gesture of kindness transforms into a tight friendship between an elderly woman and her much younger next door neighbor. Their relationship becomes complicated, leading to shocking moments and nuanced interactions. Anchored by gripping turns from Oscar nominees Riseborough (To Leslie, Possessor) and Brenda Blethyn (Little Voice, Atonement), Dragonfly is a must-see chamber piece that lingers long afterward.
HORSEGIRLS
(Written by Allison Brown) Neurodivergence has gained broader acceptance thanks to shows like Love on the Spectrum and the rise of awareness on social media. Tolerance for one’s unique flaws and quirks is thankfully on the rise, in contrast to the bullying of past decades. Just four years ago, the controversial Music drew backlash for its problematic portrayal of an autistic lead. In today’s more compassionate landscape, Lauren Meyering’s tender dramedy Horsegirls shines on the festival circuit. At its center is 22-year-old bombastic Margarita (Lillian Carrier), whose mother, Sandy (Gretchen Mol), is undergoing chemotherapy while raising a daughter with behavioral challenges. As Margarita takes on a job and learns to care for herself, she discovers a group of girls practicing choreography with artificial horses—her special interest. Tears are guaranteed, so be prepared with tissues at the ready.
LEMONADE BLESSING
(Written by Intern, Alecia Wilk) Amid a current of teen dramas obsessed with sex-ifying and scandalizing the high school experience, Lemonade Blessing goes its own way, following the clumsy footsteps of Catholic school freshman with a keen eye. In this hilarious and touching coming-of-age tale, one boy’s innocence is a battleground of good and bad influence. John’s (Jake Ryan) desperation for approval touches all aspects of his life. In moments ranging from failed bathtub masturbation attempts to misguided ventures in becoming a youth minister, Director Chris Merola’s take on adolescent identity crisis is crystal clear and hard to forget.
MAN FINDS TAPE
Man Finds Tape perfectly establishes a trademark eerie mystery with a signature style evolved from the best in the found footage subgenre. On the map due to a strange and unusual web series aptly titled “Man Finds Tape,” Larkin, Texas, native Lucas (William Magnuson) discovers a mysterious videotape with his name on it when cleaning out the barn of his recently-deceased parents. The footage contained therein leads Lucas down a rabbit hole of cryptic clues and oddball occurrences that transform Lucas into a veritable online obsession. Narrated entirely by Lynn (Kelsey Pribilski), Lucas’s older sister, Man Finds Tape envisions a faux documentary where the two siblings hunt for answers to some of Larkin’s most chilling secrets. Come for the horror, stay for the intoxicating combination of Disney’s So Weird and Twin Peaks.
OH HI!
(Written by Intern, Alecia Wilk) Oh, Hi! turns the internet’s boyfriend, Logan Lerman, into a very familiar villain as Iris navigates the throws of modern romance. Not yet a night into their first romantic getaway as a couple, Isaac drops a bomb of a reality check on Iris’s pillowtalk when he tells her that, actually, they are not an item. Sophie Brooks turns this common experience of pre-relationship heartbreak into an outrageous comedy, where players end up literally ‘cuffed’ against their will. Between sweeping Iris off her feet and chaining Isaac down, Oh, Hi! is packed with laughs, relying on the small cast of familiar faces to work the charisma audiences have come to love via other projects. Tune in for a truly unhinged lover’s revenge tale for the Hinge era.
ON A STRING
(Written by Allison Brown) On a String is a sharp deadpan comedy that hits all the right notes when executed well, and Isabel Hagen delivers flawlessly. The writer, director, and star, who could easily pass for Lili Reinhart’s long-lost twin, creates an incredibly relatable postgrad story clearly drawn from her own experiences. By naming the protagonist after herself, Hagen brings a deeply personal touch to the narrative. Both she and co-star Ling Ling Huang are accomplished string musicians, adding authentic depth to their roles. A character usually confined to the background finally takes center stage. On a String speaks directly to anyone who has ever felt caught between their dreams and reality, leaving viewers to wonder what comes next.
PINCH
(Written by Intern, Allie Frydrych) A tightly wound story of protest, consequence, and the cost of speaking out, Pinch follows Maitri (writer/director Uttera Singh), a young woman with big dreams, living in a close-knit community. Her hopeful energy turns sour after she experiences a traumatic assault by someone she once trusted. Maitri must decide whether justice is worth pursuing to its full extent—or if familial backlash, communal shunning, and perpetrator rage are enough to encourage silence. Interrogating the limits of revenge through an ambiguous lens, tension is built across overlapping narratives and a frenetic visual style. As Maitri’s world begins to unravel, Pinch delivers a searing portrait of resilience in the face of silencing, inciting complex conversation within the current cultural landscape shaped by #MeToo.
THE SHADOW SCHOLARS
(Written by Intern, Kendall Martin) Earnest, curious, and bold, The Shadow Scholars conducts a broad inquiry into the world of contract cheating, and the lives of the Kenyan workers behind the computer screens. Gorgeously shot and easily digested, this urgent documentary follows Oxford professor, Patricia Kingori, as she confronts an industry on the fringes of legality. Director Eloise King asks her audience to consider their own lives: what differentiates you from the millions of people who are paid pennies in a less than ethical, billion-dollar marketplace? What drives someone to work under these conditions, and how do they continue to thrive despite their circumstances? The Shadow Scholars devotes itself to studying this question for its titular academics while also placing their struggle within the larger framework of global inequities.
TITAN: THE OCEANGATE DISASTER
The sinking of the Titanic remains a defining moment in worldwide culture despite occurring over 100 years ago at this point. No one could have predicted another infamous disaster, albeit one with significantly less casualties, would unfold in nearby waters destined for the same bottomless abyss as the doomed ocean liner. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster chronicles the infamous implosion of the Titan submersible that shockingly occurred in June of 2023 by internally assessing just what went wrong. It traces back the tragedy through eyewitness accounts, working with creator and infamously difficult millionaire, Stockton Rush, as well as assessing the various external factors that contributed to the catastrophic event. Using a mix of actual footage and shocking stories, director Mark Monroe paints a chilling portrait of a man who longed to become the next Elon Musk. Don’t miss out on this captivating Netflix documentary when it screens at the festival.
WHAT MARIELLE KNOWS
(Written by Intern, Alecia Wilk) Are the secrets parents keep in their child’s best interest, or is that just a convenient justification which allows them to live a lie? This is the gripping central question What Marielle Knows faces head on. When Julia (Julia Jentsch) and Tobias’ (Felix Kramer) daughter suddenly gains the ability to spy through their consciousnesses, their polished family structure falls into dysfunction. While tackling complex issues in parenthood, marriage, and corrupting wisdom, Director Frédéric Hambalek cuts out a succinct contemporary horror. Meeting the world at a point where surveillance threatens to erase personal privacy completely, and the shelf-life of innocence is rapidly declining, his latest feature is a bone-chilling looking-glass.
To buy tickets for the screenings at Tribeca, please head over to each film’s page. For full information on the festival and even more titles, head over to the website to read more!