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Tribeca Festival · 2019

Tribeca Festival 2019

Spotlight Narrative

Programme

15 films · 8 reviews

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American Woman

Inspired by the headline-dominating kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst in 1974, this atmospheric drama is a fictionalised reimagining of her time in hiding, from the perspective of Jenny, a pacifist and associate of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Semi Chellas; Stars: Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, Lola Kirke, Ellen Burstyn, John Gallagher Jr., David Cubitt, Matt Gordon, Richard Walters, Dru Viergever, David Tompa, Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, Lola Kirke, Ellen Burstyn, John Gallagher Jr)

World premiere

Buffaloed

Review preview for Buffaloed

Deutch has great comic timing and completely convinces as the sort of fast talking, wise-cracking hustler who could pull this kind of thing off.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A woman finds her calling in an ethically debatable industry - debt collecting.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Tanya Wexler; Writer: Brian Sacca; Stars: Zoey Deutch, Judy Greer, Jai Courtney, Lusia Strus, Noah Reid, Jayne Eastwood, Jermaine Fowler, Raymond Ablack, Brian Sacca, Alex Harrouch, Kate Moyer, Nicholas Carella, Lorrie Odom, Nicole Williams, David Tompa)

Full review See: Interview with Tanya Wexler about Buffaloed

World premiere

Charlie Says

Review preview for Charlie Says

The finest film of the year so far.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Three women whose death sentences for the Manson murder case were commuted to life are taught by a graduate student, who witnesses their transformation.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Mary Harron; Writer: Guinevere Turner, Karlene Faith, Ed Sanders; Stars: Suki Waterhouse, Matt Smith, Merritt Wever, Annabeth Gish, Hannah Murray, Kimmy Shields, Sosie Bacon, Chace Crawford, Grace Van Dien, Marianne Rendón, Bridger Zadina, Kayli Carter, India Ennenga, Matt Riedy, Sol Rodriguez)

Full review

North American premiere

Crown Vic

Review preview for Crown Vic

The action scenes here are well handled and there are some interesting observations about how technological developments have changed the nature of policing.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Over the course of a single night, two police officers at opposite ends of their careers find themselves thrust into a violent hunt for two cop killers on the loose in the Olympic Division of Los Angeles.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Joel Souza; Writer: Joel Souza; Stars: Josh Hopkins, Thomas Jane, Bridget Moynahan, David Krumholtz, Luke Kleintank, Scottie Thompson, Emma Ishta, Devon Werkheiser, Faron Salisbury, Alex Morf, James Andrew O'Connor, Bernard David Jones, Gregg Bello, Shiloh Verrico, Nils Lawton)

Full review

World premiere

Dreamland

Review preview for Dreamland

A bittersweet vision of America barrelling down a two-lane road to nowhere.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
Amid the dust storms and economic depression of Dustbowl Era Oklahoma, Eugene Evans finds his family farm on the brink of foreclosure. His last bet to save the farm is the bounty on the head of fugitive bank robber Allison Wells.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; Writer: Nicolaas Zwart; Stars: Margot Robbie, Travis Fimmel, Garrett Hedlund, Kerry Condon, Finn Cole, Darby Camp, Hans Christopher, Grayson Berry, Jacob Browne, Joe Berryman, Jane Wilson, Bruce McIntosh, Andy Kastelic, Pab Schwendimann, Paul Blott)

Full review

World premiere

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile

Review preview for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile

By avoiding serial cliches, director Joe Berlinger touches on a different level of revelation.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Joe Berlinger; Writer: Michael Werwie; Stars: Zac Efron, Haley Joel Osment, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Jim Parsons, Angela Sarafyan, Dylan Baker, Brian Geraghty, Terry Kinney, Grace Victoria Cox, James Hetfield, Joe Berlinger, Brandon Trost)

Full review

NYC premiere

Georgetown

Eccentric social climber Ulrich Mott throws lavish parties with his much-older wife, Elsa, in the tony Washington D.C. neighborhood. But when Elsa is found dead, Ulrich must mount an increasingly elaborate charade to conceal his skeletons and convince everyone of his innocence.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Christoph Waltz; Writer: David Auburn; Stars: Christoph Waltz, Annette Bening, Vanessa Redgrave, Corey Hawkins, Noam Jenkins, Paulino Nunes, Sergio Di Zio, Caroline Palmer, David Reale, Ron Lea, Saad Siddiqui, Laura de Carteret, Lou Jurgens, Victoria Snow, Dan Lett)

World premiere

Good Posture

Adrift, unmotivated, and only slightly spoiled, Lilian has been pawned off on family friends in Brooklyn, New York, one of whom is a famous, and famously aloof, writer. Lilian decides to make a documentary —unauthorised, of course — about her hermit housemate.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Dolly Wells; Stars: Emily Mortimer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Nat Wolff, Grace Van Patten, Norbert Leo Butz, Mary Holland, Condola Rashad, Timm Sharp, John Early, Gary Richardson, Emmanuelle Martin, Alexis Self, Emily Mortimer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Nat Wolff)

World premiere

The Kill Team

Based on the 2013 documentary, The Kill Team dramatises the true story of Private Andrew Briggman, an infantryman in Afghanistan who is swept up in a conspiracy of violence against civilians perpetrated by his own platoon.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Dan Krauss; Writer: Dan Krauss; Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Nat Wolff, Adam Long, Jonathan Whitesell, Brian Marc, Osy Ikhile, Rob Morrow, Anna Francolini, Oliver Ritchie, Adam James, Zackary Momoh, Elham Ehsas, Julio Perillán, Ian Attard, Andreas Karras)

World premiere

Lost Transmissions

After famed record producer Theo Ross goes off his schizophrenia meds, introverted songwriter Hannah dedicates herself to getting him the help he needs, perhaps at the cost of her own dreams.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Katharine O'Brien; Writer: Katharine O'Brien; Stars: Juno Temple, Alexandra Daddario, Simon Pegg, Rosanna Arquette, Bria Vinaite, Tao Okamoto, Robert Schwartzman, Rebecca Hazlewood, Grant Harvey, Jamie Harris, Danny Ramirez, Nana Ghana, Jacob Loeb, Jonathan Ohye, Corey Mendell Parker)

World premiere

Only

After the onset of a mysterious plague that affects only women, Eva may be the only female human left on Earth. Longing for freedom after months of secret quarantine, she and her partner Will venture out into the unknown.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Takashi Doscher; Writer: Takashi Doscher; Stars: Freida Pinto, Leslie Odom Jr., Chandler Riggs, Jayson Warner Smith, Joshua Mikel, Mark Ashworth, Tia Hendricks, Richard Hempton, Noor Naghmi, Maggie Parto, Charles Green, Kristopher Charles, Jarrod Beck, Charles Lawlor, Nicholas Anthony Reid)

World premiere

Plus One

Review preview for Plus One

Not bad, not brilliant.

Jane Fae · 3 out of 5
In order to survive a summer of wedding fever, long-time single friends Ben and Alice agree to be each other's plus one at every wedding they’re invited to.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer; Writer: Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer; Stars: Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr., Anna Konkle, Brianne Howey, Finn Wittrock, Jon Bass, Perrey Reeves, Emma Bell, Rosalind Chao, Caitlin McGee, Victoria Park, Beck Bennett, Betsy Sodaro, Jeff Ward)

Full review

World premiere

Safe Spaces

A young professor faces criticism over a classroom controversy while grappling with his beloved grandmother’s serious illness. The sharp comedy explores how people face modern crises, both real and self-inflicted.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Daniel Schechter; Writer: Daniel Schechter; Stars: Justin Long, Fran Drescher, Richard Schiff, Becky Ann Baker, Lynn Cohen, Tyler Wladis, Kate Berlant, Tony Macht, Camrus Johnson, Dana Eskelson, Samrat Chakrabarti, Bryce Romero, Bern Cohen, Michael Hsu Rosen, Michael Godere)

World 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

US premiere

Standing Up, Falling Down

Review preview for Standing Up, Falling Down

See Billy Crystal's name in a line-up like this and you probably expect wise-cracking comedy, but in fact this is a rare straight role for the actor and it illustrates what he's capable of when he really gets to flex his acting muscles.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An unlikely friendship between a failed comedian and a charming, alcoholic dermatologist helps both confront long-simmering regrets in this warm-hearted buddy comedy.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Matt Ratner; Writer: Peter Hoare; Stars: Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz, Eloise Mumford, Grace Gummer, Nate Corddry, Jill Hennessy, Caitlin McGee, David Castañeda, Leonard Ouzts, John Behlmann, Debra Monk, Kevin Dunn, Wade Allain-Marcus, Kate Arrington, Mike Carlsen)

Full review

World premiere