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Inside Out · 2025

Inside Out 2025

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Programme

28 films · 7 reviews

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Baby

Review preview for Baby

It is the things taken for granted, as much as the things that stand out, which shape the tale.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After being released from a juvenile detention center, Wellington finds himself alone and adrift on the streets of São Paulo. During a visit to a porn theater, he encounters Ronaldo, a mature man, who teaches him new ways of surviving.

(Country: Brazil, France, Netherlands; Year: 2024; Director: Marcelo Caetano; Writer: Marcelo Caetano, Gabriel Domingues; Stars: João Pedro Mariano, Ricardo Teodoro, Ana Flavia Cavalcanti, Bruna Linzmeyer, Luiz Bertazzo)

Full review

The Best Friend (O Melhor Amigo)

Spooked by his long-term boyfriend’s very public proposal, Lucas flees to the resort town of Canoa Quebrada. It’s here, walking the white sand beaches, that he’s reunited with his unrequited college crush, Felipe.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2024; Director: Allan Deberton; Writer: Raul Damasceno, Otavio Chamorro, Pedro Karam, Allan Deberton)

Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda)

Review preview for Cactus Pears

Although writer/director Rohan Kanawade grew up in the city, there is a deep sense of authenticity about the village setting, and the whole film is handled with a rare degree of sensitivity.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.

(Country: India; Year: 2025; Director: Rohan Kanawade; Writer: Rohan Kanawade; Stars: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap)

Full review See: Interview with Rohan Kanawade about Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda)

The Crowd (Jama'at)

Friends risk their freedom to throw good friend Raman a going away party - especially when his deeply religious brother turns up.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2025; Director: Sahand Kabiri; Writer: Sahand Kabiri; Stars: Shoja Giyahi, Razie Mansori, Keyvan Mohammadi, Rambod Motalebi, Baset Rezaei)

Dreams In Nightmares

Three friends go on a road trip looking for a fourth who has disappeared off the grid.

(Country: US, Taiwan, UK; Year: 2025; Director: Shatara Michelle Ford; Writer: Shatara Michelle Ford; Stars: Denée Benton, Mars Rucker, Dezi Bing, Sasha Compère, Charlie Barnett, Molly Bernard, Alfie Fuller, Malek Mouzon, Joss Barton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Regina Taylor, Robert Wisdom, Zoe Himmel, Lindsey Hailes, Zahalea Anderson)

Enigma

April and Amanda allegedly transitioned in the same era – the 1950s - but Amanda found disco lights while April faced the flashing lights of a transphobic press.

(Country: US, France, Spain, UK; Year: 2024; Director: Zackary Drucker; Stars: Amanda Lear, April Ashley)

Flamingo Camp

In the near-lawless squatter town of Slab City, a group of young queer and trans anarchists create a thriving safe space for themselves known as Flamingo Camp - until a shocking incident turns everything upside down.

(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2025; Director: Chris Coats)

I'm Your Venus

Review preview for I'm Your Venus

From the start, there is something different about this film.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary considering the unsolved murder of Paris Is Burning star Venus Xtravaganza.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Kimberly Reed; Stars: Gisele Alicea, Daniella Carter, Gia Marie Love, John Pellagatti Jr., Joseph Pellagatti, Louie Pellagatti, Michael Roberson, Maximo Xtravaganza, Venus Xtravaganza)

Full review

In Ashes (Si Gennem Aske)

After getting dumped by his first love, Christian is spiralling. The breakup was brutal, one-sided, and he’s still stuck—mentally replaying every moment of their romance. Desperate for connection, he dives headfirst into hookup apps.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2025; Director: Ludvig Christian Næsted Poulsen; Writer: Ludvig Christian Næsted Poulsen; Stars: Rex Leonard, Marie Askehave, Laura Bach, Jakon korsholm Borun)

Lakeview

Review preview for Lakeview

Thorne still comes across as being at the stage where many aspects of her work are experimental. She’s yet to settle into her style.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Darcy, a bisexual woman, is divorcing her husband. Her close friends all arrive at her parents’ lakeside house, ready to see her through this major life development. However, everyone is distracted by their own dramas, relationships and personal milestones.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Tara Thorne; Writer: Tara Thorne; Stars: Lesley Smith, Hilary Adams, Nicole Steeves)

Full review See: Interview with Tara Thorne about Lakeview

Lucky, Apartment (Reokki, Apateu)

Seonwoo and Heeseo have put everything into their small flat and life together. After losing her job, Seonwoo finds herself at home every day, obsessing over a foul odour she cannot get rid of.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2024; Director: Kangyu Garam; Writer: Kangyu Garam; Stars: Sohn Suhyun, Park Gayoung)

Move Ya Body: The Birth Of House

Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Elegance Bratton; Writer: Elegance Bratton)

The Nature Of Invisible Things (A natureza das coisas invisíveis)

Two ten-year-olds meet in hospital and form a bond.

(Country: Brazil, Chile; Year: 2025; Director: Rafaela Camelo; Stars: Camila Márdila, Larissa Mauro, Aline Marta Maia, Serena, Laura Brandão)

Outerlands

When Cass is asked by an alluring woman to watch her 11-year-old daughter while she goes out of town, Cass is forced to confront the truth of their own tumultuous childhood.

(Year: 2025; Director: Elena Oxman; Writer: Elena Oxman; Stars: Asia Kate Dillon, Louisa Krause, Ridley Asha Bateman, Lea DeLaria, Daniel K. Isaac, Melinda Meeng, Allie Heng, Winter Dewitt, Safia Fredericks, Sedrick Cabrera)

Parade: Queer Acts Of Love & Resistance

A documentary about the history of Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ activism.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2025; Director: Noam Gonick)

Ponyboi

Unfolding over the course of Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Esteban Arango; Writer: River Gallo; Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Pedretti, Indya Moore, Murray Bartlett, River Gallo, Keith William Richards, Bryant Carroll, Juan Carlos Hernández, Jari Jones, Moisés Acevedo, NaTonia Monét, Annie Henk, Stephen Moscatello, Miles Coreas, Kevin Matthew Mcdonald)

Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel)

A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca - the city’s Grim Reaper - presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself.

(Country: Colombia, Spain, US; Year: 2025; Director: Gala del Sol; Writer: Gala del Sol; Stars: Jhon Narváez, Sofia Buenaventura, John Alex Castillo, Saray Rebolledo, Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez, Celina Biurrun, Jose Mojica, Jhon Bayron Quintero Valencia, Mairen Valoyes, William Hurtado, Jacobo Velez, Johan Zapata, Román Escobar, Santiago Ortiz, Christian Calles)

Really Happy Someday

Review preview for Really Happy Someday

The film hinges on amazing vocal work by Lalama.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Once a rising star of musical theatre, a young man has to find his voice, career and identity all over again after his transition.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: J Stevens; Writer: J Stevens, Breton Lalama; Stars: Breton Lalama, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Xavier Lopez, Ali Garrison, Katharine King So)

Full review See: Interview with J Stevens and Breton Lalama about Really Happy Someday

Row Of Life

In 2020, at the age of 60, Angela Madsen embarked on her most ambitious challenge yet: rowing 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Hawaii. As if this feat weren’t already remarkable, Madsen became the first paraplegic and the oldest woman to attempt this solo, unassisted ocean row.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Soraya Simi)

Sally

Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Cristina Costantini; Writer: Cristina Costantini, Tom Maroney; Stars: Lindsey Lamer, Billie Jean King, Varda Appleton, Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy, Anna Lee Fisher, Kathryn D. Sullivan)

Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip)

Review preview for Sandbag Dam

Sandbag Dam is powered by stellar, deeply lived-in performances by the young and budding actors.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 4 out of 5
In a village threatened by flooding a young man's life is turned upside down by the rekindling of a forbidden romance.

(Country: Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania; Year: 2025; Director: Čejen Černić Čanak; Writer: Tomislav Zajec, Čejen Černić Čanak; Stars: Lav Novosel, Andrija Žunić, Leon Grgić, Franka Mikolaci, Tanja Smoje, Alma Prica, Filip Šovagović)

Full review

Sauna

Johan thrives as a gay man in Copenhagen, enjoying endless bars, parties, and casual flings. Everything changes when he meets William, a transgender man, and falls into a deep love that defies societal norms around gender, identity, and relationships.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2025; Director: Mathias Broe; Writer: William Lippert, Mads Ananda Lodahl; Stars: Magnus Juhl Andersen, Nina Terese Rask, Dilan Amin, Klaus Tange, Peter Oliver Hansen, Morten Burian, Billie N. Hviid Andersen, Theo Suissa, Anton Hjejle, Fuad Gumas, Sam Koosha, Niels Munk Plum, Christian Gade Bjerrum, Daniel Muniz, Kenneth Cockwhore)

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

When an old man dies the sex worker he was with decides to fulfil his last wish.

(Country: Philippines, Italy, Singapore; Year: 2024; Director: Petersen Vargas; Writer: Petersen Vargas; Stars: Jomari Angeles, Argel Saycon, Tommy Alejandrino, Gold Aceron, Miguel Odron)

Speak

Five top-ranked high school oratory students spend a year crafting spellbinding spoken word performances with the dream of winning one of the world’s largest and most intense public speaking competitions.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Jennifer Tiexiera, Guy Mossman)

Starwalker

An IndigiQueer Two-Spirit callboy is newly entranced by the world of drag after being introduced to a vibrant drag house, and confronted with a cultural past they once neglected.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2025; Director: Corey Payette; Writer: Corey Payette; Stars: Dillan Chiblow, Jeffrey Michael Follis, Stewart Adam McKensy, Jason Sakaki, Jennifer Lines)

Sweet Angel Baby

A young woman faces relationship problems after her secret social media identity is exposed.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Melanie Oates; Writer: Melanie Oates; Stars: Michaela Kurimsky, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Peter Mooney, Emily Bridger, Patricia Andrews, Colin Furlong, Rhiannon Morgan)

Two Women

Review preview for Two Women

It is silly and playful, but there are times when it becomes uncomfortable.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Violette is having a difficult maternity leave. Florence is dealing with depression. Despite their careers and families, they feel like failures. Florence’s first infidelity is a revelation. When having fun is far down the list of priorities, sleeping with a delivery guy could be revolutionary.

(Country: France; Year: 2025; Director: Chloé Robichaud; Writer: Catherine Léger; Stars: Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Laurence Leboeuf, Félix Moati, Mani Soleymanlou, Sophie Nelisse, Juliette Gariépy)

Full review

Unlabelled

Three members of the trans community in Toronto take us on a journey through their experiences, both joyful and painful, as they navigate their own paths in the world.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2025; Director: Colette Johnson-Vosberg)