Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kelsey Taylor
Starring: Dana Millican | Ivan Martin | Kaitlin Doubleday | Maddison Brown | Michael Esper
Diane says: “A tale loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood, with subtle reminders of its fairytale origins in the bells and banjo of the score. I loved that, for maybe the first third, I was completely in the dark
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Cassie Keet
Starring: Jordan Lane Shappell | Molly Jackson | Olivia Taylor Dudley | Riley Dandy | Shayn Herndon
Brett says: “Real-life-based horror doesn’t always need to check the box of the horror genre to send a chill down one’s spine. Sometimes, it’s the weight of memory, trauma, and belief that proves more unsettling. ABIGAIL BEFORE BEATRICE is such
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Sophie Hyde
Starring: Aud Mason-Hyde | Daniel Henshall | Eamon Farren | John Lithgow | Olivia Colman
Michael says: “My brief Letterboxd review states: “Highly personal intergenerational queer story that is intimate and moving. Some really nice touches.” That pretty much sums it up, but I’ll go a little further here. First, I hadn’t realized going in that
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kim A. Snyder
Michael says: “Who knew that the changing political climate of the last several years would fid librarians on the front lines of the battle for intellectual freedom? I guess librarians did, but not to the extent that many school and
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Albert Serra
Diane says: “Albert Serra’s 2025 documentary AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE didn’t make our noms, but I was still very eager to see it. It was #6 on New Yorker critic Richard Brody’s top movies for last year. “In saturated color and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lindsay Utz | Michelle Walshe
Diane says: :Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on a book tour for her memoir -and- is hitting movie screens in a just-released doc. Much of PRIME MINISTER’s footage was shot by her partner Clarke, who couldn’t keep
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Joshua Erkman
Starring: Ashley Smith | David Yow | Kai Lennox | Ray Sherman | Sarah Lind
Jeff says: “Alex Clark (Kai Lennox) is a formerly renowned documentary photographer. He produced, long ago, a handsome coffee table book featuring stark, black and white portraits of derelict military bases, abandoned subdivisions, crumbling warehouses, and seedy motels set amid
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Constance Tsang
Starring: Damien Brown | Haipeng Xu | Kang-sheng Lee | Ke-Xi Wu | Yvonne YF Chan
Michael says: “Low-key and understated, but writer/director Constance Tsang’s debut feature, packs a strong emotional punch. The film features a lengthy prologue that leads you to believe that one character is the lead, then switches after a surprising turn of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Leonardo Van Dijl
Starring: Alyssa Lorette | Grace Biot | Luca de Maar | Noah Lecloux | Tessa Van den Broeck
Diane says: “This Belgian film, a very quiet counterpart to 2020’s SLALOM, is about an athlete pushed hard by a coach where boundaries may not be respected. Julie (Tessa Van den Broeck) is an exceptional tennis player, on scholarship at
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Minh Quy Truong
Starring: Duy Bao Dinh Dao | Ho Lan Le | Thanh Hai Pham | Thi Nga Nguyen | Viet Tung Le
Chris says: “Almost a tone poem in its slower-than-Tsai Ming-liang pace, it’s often as if viewing a familiar world through foreign eyes with its arresting but rarely “pretty” imagery. Requires a second watch but one I’ll be eager to make.
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