★★★★ Swirling with notes of dark romance and dagger-sharp conversations, Santa Barbara International Film Festival selection House of Darkness is an eerie delight. Once the mystery element is solved, it may be painfully obvious where this is headed, but it doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. The banter between Justin Long and Kate … Continue reading SBIFF 2022: House of Darkness
SBIFF 2022: Nowhere Special
★★★★ A sweet, tearjerking drama, Nowhere Special will make viewers think twice about making the most of their time left on this earth. As grim as it sounds, all living things must eventually die, and life is forced to carry on without us in it. Planning ahead for the reality of death can be particularly … Continue reading SBIFF 2022: Nowhere Special
SBIFF 2022: The Big Bend
★★★★ The Big Bend is surprisingly sweet and brimming with love, not at all what I had anticipated from the darkness of the premise. In fact, I would go so far as to say its description for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival tells the viewer absolutely nothing about the main plot of the movie. … Continue reading SBIFF 2022: The Big Bend
SBIFF 2021: Under My Skin
★★ The idea behind Under My Skin is far better than the execution. David O’Donnell’s new film has layered visuals and a raw story about one person’s struggle with gender. A key creative choice blocked me from identifying with its mixed messages: the central character is played throughout by entirely different actors. When young musician … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: Under My Skin
SBIFF 2021: We Burn Like This
★★★ I assumed We Burn Like This would delve deeper into heritage and Judaism in its exploration of a Holocaust survivor descendant. Instead, it focuses more on the lead’s relationship with religion than with Jewish culture. The new drama, part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, is a modern coming of age story. It … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: We Burn Like This
SBIFF 2021: Coast
★★★★ Tender and rousing music adds flavor to Coast, the feature film debut of directors Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart. On surface level, it’s a coming-of-age drama film about 16 year old Abby (Fatima Ptacek) as she figures out where she belongs in the world, while working on a hometown history paper. What does she … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: Coast
SBIFF 2021: Broken Diamonds
★★★★★ Schizophrenia is a disease that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, and rarely do we get to see it on film in a convincing way. The most famous example is obviously Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, which I personally find overrated and bordering on exploitative. Broken Diamonds comes at a time when exploring mental illness and … Continue reading SBIFF 2021: Broken Diamonds