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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2019

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019

American Dreams

Programme

15 films · 9 reviews

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The Art Of Self-Defense (The Art Of Self Defence, The Art Of Self Defense)

Review preview for The Art Of Self-Defense

For those who get into the rhythm of it, this is an instant classic.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After being beaten up on the street, an accountant joins a karate studio to learn how to protect himself.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Riley Stearns; Writer: Riley Stearns; Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots, Steve Terada, Phillip Andre Botello, Caroline Amiguet, Apollo Bacala, Jason Burkey, Justin Eaton, Dallas Edwards, Will Ellis Jr, Josh Fadem, John French, Darren Gaebel, Scott Goodman, Mocha, Roman)

Full review See: Alessandro Nivola in conversation on The Art Of Self-Defense and The Red Sea Diving Resort

UK premiere

Before You Know It

A long-kept family secret thrusts codependent, thirty-something sisters Rachel and Jackie Gurner into a literal soap opera.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Hannah Pearl Utt; Writer: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock; Stars: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock, Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin, Mike Colter, Alec Baldwin)

European premiere

A Call To Spy (Liberté: A Call To Spy)

Review preview for A Call To Spy

Pilcher strikes a good balance between interpersonal drama, nerve-racking action scenes and focus on the cat and mouse game that the women are caught up in.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A drama inspired by true stories of women recruited as spies during the Second World War, who were sent to occupied France to disrupt the Nazis.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher; Writer: Sarah Megan Thomas; Stars: Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apte, Linus Roache, Rossif Sutherland, Samuel Roukin, Andrew Richardson, Laila Robins, Marc Rissmann, Mathilde Ollivier, Lola Pashalinski, David Schaal, Rob Heaps, Matt Salinger, Marceline Hugot)

Full review

World premiere

The Captor (Stockholm)

Review preview for The Captor

A nice study in group dynamic.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
In 1973, an unhinged American outlaw walked into a bank in Sweden demanding millions in cash in exchange for his hostages. The events that followed would capture the attention of the world and ultimately give a name to a new psychological phenomenon: Stockholm syndrome.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Robert Budreau; Writer: Robert Budreau; Stars: Noomi Rapace, Ethan Hawke, Mark Strong, Christopher Heyerdahl, Thorbjørn Harr, Mark Rendall, Bea Santos, Ian Matthews, John Ralston, Gustaf Hammarsten, Shanti Roney, Christopher Wagelin, Vladimir Jon Cubrt, Linzee Barclay, Nick Stojanovic)

Full review

UK premiere

The Dead Don't Die

Review preview for The Dead Don't Die

Jarmusch usually manages to invest his films with a quirky sense of humour, but here the lines fall decidedly flat.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves.

(Country: Sweden, US; Year: 2019; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Bill Murray, Chloë Sevigny, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez)

Full review See: Jarmusch, Swinton, Sevigny, Gomez and Murray at The Dead Don't Die press conference in Cannes

UK premiere

Driven

Biopic tracking the friendship between John DeLorean and FBI informant Jim Hoffman.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Nick Hamm; Writer: Colin Bateman; Stars: Lee Pace, Judy Greer, Erin Moriarty, Jason Sudeikis, Corey Stoll, Justin Bartha, Michael Cudlitz, Tara Summers, Iddo Goldberg, Yuji Okumoto, Asher Miles Fallica, Tyler Crumley, Isabel Arraiza, Brian Tester, Jeffrey Holsman)

UK premiere

Go Back To China

When spoiled rich girl Sasha Li blows through most of her trust fund, she is cut off by her father and forced to go back to China and work for the family toy business.

(Country: US, China; Year: 2019; Director: Emily Ting; Writer: Emily Ting; Stars: Anna Akana, Richard Ng, Lynn Chen)

International premiere

I See You

Strange occurrences plague a small town detective and his family as he investigates the disappearance of a young boy.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Adam Randall; Writer: Devon Graye; Stars: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Judah Lewis, Owen Teague, Libe Barer)

International premiere

Justine

A single mum has to move in with her father-in-law after the death of her husband and takes a job as a caretaker to a young girl with spina bifida.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Stephanie Turner; Writer: Stephanie Turner; Stars: Darby Stanchfield, Glynn Turman, Josh Stamberg, Christine Ko, Cleo King, Olivia Hamilton, Matt Hobby, Melanie Hutsell, Lynn Andrews, Stephanie Turner, Heather McPhaul, Londyn Silzer, Karen Bethzabe, Becki Dennis, Ravi Cabot-Conyers)

International premiere

Ode To Joy

Review preview for Ode To Joy

The mix of a humorous story with a well-set pace can’t cover up that the scientifically inaccurate lead element makes the story feel far too contrived.

John-Anthony Disotto · 3 out of 5
A man who suffers sudden bouts of paralysis whenever he experiences strong emotions finds his efforts to avoid joy put to the test when he falls in love.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jason Winer; Writer: Max Werner, Chris Higgins; Stars: Morena Baccarin, Melissa Rauch, Martin Freeman, Shannon Woodward, Jake Lacy, Jane Curtin, Ellis Rubin, Adam Shapiro, Jackie Seiden, Tyler Bourke, Jason Altman, Alex Perez, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, dL Sams, Morena Baccarin)

Full review

European premiere

Skin

Review preview for Skin

There are some powerful moments in Skin, but however lasting some of its impacts the film isn't as deep as it hopes.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
The true story of white supremacist skinhead Bryon Widner and his attempts to leave his extreme right-wing past behind.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Guy Nattiv; Writer: Guy Nattiv; Stars: Danielle Macdonald, Vera Farmiga, Jamie Bell, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mike Colter, Bill Camp, Jenna Leigh Green, Louisa Krause, Kylie Rogers, Daniel Henshall, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Russell Posner, Rob Figueroa, Colbi Gannett, Joanna Herrington)

Full review

UK premiere

The Sound Of Silence

Review preview for The Sound Of Silence

This is a treat of a film.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Michael Tyburski; Writer: Ben Nabors, Michael Tyburski; Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton)

Full review

European premiere

So Pretty

Story of four queer and trans people's lives in NYC.

(Country: US, France; Year: 2019; Director: Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli; Writer: Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, based on the novel by Ronald M Schernikau; Stars: Edem Dela-Seshie, Thomas Love, Rachika Samarth, Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, Phoebe DeGroot, Arlene Gregoire, Edem Dela-Seshie, Thomas Love, Rachika Samarth, Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, Phoebe DeGroot, Arlene Gregoire)

UK premiere

Them That Follow

Review preview for Them That Follow

In terms of mood, directors Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage do a lot with a little, allowing the plot to coil round the characters.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Inside a snake-handling church deep in Appalachia, a forbidden relationship forces a pastor’s daughter to confront her community’s deadly tradition.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage; Writer: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage; Stars: Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Walton Goggins, Thomas Mann, Jim Gaffigan, Alice Englert, Lewis Pullman, Bradley Gallo, Brooks Roseberry, Erik Andrews, Kami Amore, Chris Breen, Buddy Candela, Greg Danko, Megan Dettone)

Full review

European premiere

The Vast Of Night

Review preview for The Vast Of Night

Patterson handles the acceleration and deceleration throughout with aplomb, notching things up or down at just the right moments and using inventive camerawork and sound design that encourages you to lean in and listen during the film's quieter moments.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A late night radio presenter and a switchboard operator begin to suspect something odd is happening in their small town.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Andrew Patterson; Writer: James Montague, Craig W Sanger; Stars: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis, Cheyenne Barton, Gregory Peyton, Mallorie Rodak, Mollie Milligan, Ingrid Fease, Brandon Stewart, Kirk Griffith, Nika Sage McKenna, Brett Brock, Pam Dougherty, Lynn Blackburn)

Full review

International premiere