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Deauville Festival of American Cinema · 2017

Deauville Festival of American Cinema 2017

Competition

Programme

13 films · 8 reviews

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The Bachelors

Review preview for The Bachelors

This is a tale told with unusual sensitivity and skill.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A widowed father and his son meet two women who slowly begin to transform their lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Kurt Voelker; Writer: Kurt Voelker; Stars: Odeya Rush, Jean Louisa Kelly, JK Simmons, Julie Delpy)

Full review

Beach Rats

Review preview for Beach Rats

British actor Dickinson – surely on the first step to a lot more film roles – slides seamlessly into Frankie’s groove, the accent and the body language spot on.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A Brooklyn teen struggles with his sexuality.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Eliza Hittman; Writer: Eliza Hittman; Stars: Harris Dickinson, Madeline Weinstein, Kate Hodge, Neal Huff)

Full review

Dayveon

A young teenager is drawn into a gang after the death of his brother.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Amman Abbasi; Writer: Amman Abbasi, Steven Reneau; Stars: Devin Blackmon, Dontrell Bright, Lachion Buckingham)

A Ghost Story

Review preview for A Ghost Story

Reveals just enough in the sparse dialogue and long silences to keep us intrigued.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
This is the story of a ghost and the house he haunts.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: David Lowery; Writer: David Lowery; Stars: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Rob Zabrecky, Will Oldham, Liz Franke, Sonia Acevedo)

Full review See: Interview with Casey Affleck about A Ghost Story

Gifted

Review preview for Gifted

Without the girl the film might have slipped under the radar. With the girl it takes off.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Marc Webb; Writer: Tom Flynn; Stars: Chris Evans, McKenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer, Michael Kendall Kaplan, John M. Jackson, Glenn Plummer, John Finn, Elizabeth Marvel, Candace B. Harris, Jon Sklaroff, Jona Xiao, Julie Ann Emery, Keir O'Donnell)

Full review

Gook

Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers who own a struggling women's shoe store, have an unlikely friendship with 11-year-old Kamilla. On the first day of the 1992 LA riots, the trio must defend their store — and contemplate the meaning of family, their personal dreams and the future.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Justin Chon; Writer: Justin Chon; Stars: Simone Baker, Justin Chon, Curtiss Cook Jr., David So, Jeff Corbett, Cesar Garcia, Chris Jai Alex, Natalie Sutherland, Saadiqa Muhammad, Ben Munoz, Isaiah Jarel, Aida Lembo, Terence Dickson, Omono Okojie, Trinecia Moore-Pernell)

Ingrid Goes West

A young woman becomes obsessed with an Instagram lifestyle blogger and moves to Los Angeles to try to befriend her in real life.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Matt Spicer; Writer: David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer; Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, Wyatt Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Pom Klementieff, Billy Magnussen, Charlie Wright, Megan Griffey, Hannah Pearl Utt, Angelica Amor, Malika Williams, Tina Lorraine, Jana Ritter)

Katie Says Goodbye

A teenager in a small Midwestern town tries to finance her escape through sex work.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Wayne Roberts; Writer: Wayne Roberts; Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Mireille Enos, Olivia Cooke, Jim Belushi, Keir Gilchrist)

Menashe

Review preview for Menashe

Rather than pick apart rituals... Weinstein simply lets us see them in action as part of the natural fabric of his life

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A man faces losing custody of his son after the death of his wife.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Joshua Z Weinstein; Writer: Joshua Z Weinstein, Alex Lipschultz, Musa Syeed; Stars: Menashe Lustig, Ruben Niborski, Yoel Weisshaus) , Trailer

Full review See: Menashe co-writer/producer Alex Lipschultz on the challenges of making the film

My Friend Dahmer

Review preview for My Friend Dahmer

This is a sudden and astonishing arrival for an adult actor.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Before Jeffrey Dahmer became one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, he was a teenage loner.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Marc Meyers; Writer: Marc Meyers, based on the graphic novel by Derf Backderf; Stars: Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche, Vincent Kartheiser, Dallas Roberts, Jack DeVillers, Cameron McKendry, Christopher Mele, Harrison Holzer, Miles Robbins, Tommy Nelson, Liam Koeth,)

Full review

The Rider

Review preview for The Rider

The craft, the knowledge, the deep communication with the animal, shown without words - this is breathtaking, transcendent cinema.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A young cowboy tries to carve out a new identity.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Chloé Zhao; Writer: Chloé Zhao; Stars: Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Terri Dawn Pourier, Lane Scott, Tanner Langdeau, James Calhoon, Derrick Janis)

Full review See: Chloé Zhao and Brady Jandreau in conversation on Brady's family, autism, training horses, and cinematographer Joshua James Richards for The Rider , Chloé Zhao and Brady Jandreau in conversation on Werner Herzog and filming The Rider

Sweet Virginia

Review preview for Sweet Virginia

Sweet Virginia is a simple story told very, very well.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A burglary-homicide rattles the residents of a small Alaska town.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Jamie M Dagg; Writer: Benjamin China, Paul China; Stars: Jon Bernthal, Rosemarie DeWitt, Imogen Poots, Odessa Young. Christopher Abbot)

Full review

They

(Country: US, Denmark, Qatar; Year: 2017; Director: Anahita Ghazvinizadeh; Writer: Anahita Ghazvinizadeh; Stars: Almai Sinai, Rhys Fehrenbacher, Nicole Coffineau)