2025; 1h 55m
Based on true story of a working-class couple’s fight against gentrification in the Hamptons. Tom, a down on his luck mechanic, finds unexpected love with a fellow outcast named Freckles, but their romance is put in jeopardy when the town of Montauk conspires to forcibly remove him from his home.
Director: Ari Selinger
Writer: Ari Selinger
Stars: Tim Blake Nelson, Mireille Enos, Anna Chlumsky
Category Archives: Drama
ON THE END
SHAME AND MONEY
2026; 2h 9m
Director: Visar Morina
Writers: Doruntina BashaVisar Morina
Stars: Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Fiona Gllavica
A proud family man struggles to provide as financial pressures mount. Though his mother and brother-in-law offer help, accepting support wounds his dignity. As stability slips away, he faces tough choices about pride versus survival.
“After losing their livelihood in a village, a Kosovar family is forced to move to the capital in pursuit of a place in a hypercapitalist society. Shame and Money is a finely crafted portrait of hardworking people striving for a decent life while navigating relentless pressures and chronic instability. Shaban, a traditional head of the household, wants to be the provider, yet his mother’s savings keep the family afloat, and accepting help from a wealthy brother-in-law comes with additional challenges. With his pride steadily bruised and dignity slipping out of reach, Shaban drifts closer to an unseen edge — raising the question of how much more he can possibly endure.”
TUNER
2025; 1h 49m
Director: Daniel Roher
Writers: Robert Ramsey, Daniel Roher
Stars: Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu
A talented piano tuner’s meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.
A USEFUL GHOST (Pee chai dai ka)
2025; 2h 10m
Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Writers: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Geoffroy Grison
Stars: Davika Hoorne, Wisarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon
Thai filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke upends pre-existing genres with a fantastical story about a ghost that inhabits a vacuum cleaner to become useful. This humorous and visually striking debut feature was the Grand Prix winner of Cannes Critics’ Week.
After the death of an employee at a family-run appliance factory, a strange phenomenon occurs. Spirits are possessing their products. A forced closure by the authorities is imminent, but the coming of the ghosts ironically turns out to be good news for March (Wisarut Himmarat), the son of the factory owner, who is deep in mourning following the dust-poisoning death of his pregnant wife Nat (Davika Hoorne).
March is reunited with his beloved, who is now in the form of a vacuum cleaner. Changing the social conception of ghosts, Nat’s love makes her decide to be of service by getting rid of the useless ghosts. Alongside the tale of the couple is the story of a repair guy (Wanlop Rungkumjud) who shows up at the door of a self-declared “Academic Ladyboy” (Wisarut Homhuan) to fix another possessed vacuum. The intertwining stories and unimaginable turn of events reveal complex layers and deeper context beneath the setting dust. Don’t let the breathtaking images fool you. There is more than what meets the eye.
TIFF note
THE BRUTALIST
2024; R; 3h 36m
When visionary architect László Toth and his wife Erzsébet flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern America, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious and wealthy client.
Director: Brady Corbet
Writers: Brady Corbet; Mona Fastvold
Stars: Adrien Brody; Felicity Jones; Guy Pearce
ON THE BOWERY
1956; Not Rated; 1h 5m
By focusing on the lives of three down-and-out alcoholic transients, the film creates a wrenching portrait of the tragic hopelessness of life on the Bowery in New York City.
Director: Lionel Rogosin
Writers: Richard Bagley; Lionel Rogosin; Mark Sufrin
Stars: Ray Salyer; Gorman Hendricks; Frank Matthews
MADE IN EU
2025; 1h 42m
A factory worker in rural Bulgaria becomes her town’s first Covid case, unleashing a wave of blame and social ostracism. As the virus spreads, she faces mounting persecution from employers, coworkers, family, and neighbors.
Director: Stephan Komandarev
Writers: Stephan Komandarev; Simeon Ventsislavov
Stars: Ivan Barnev; Francesco Frattini; Gerasim Georgiev
LOGAN LUCKY
2017; PG-13; 1h 58m
Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Jules Asner
Stars: Channing Tatum; Adam Driver; Daniel Craig
HIDDEN AGENDA
1990; R; 1h 48m
When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man’s girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.
Director: Ken Loach
Writer: Jim Allen
Stars: Frances McDormand; Maurice Roëves; Robert Patterson
HARVEST
2024; 2h 13m
Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears.
“Rich in atmospherics and thematic resonance, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s new film, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling and adapted from the acclaimed novel by British writer Jim Crace, takes place in a remote village in medieval England marked by superstition and the scapegoating of outsiders.”
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/films/harvest/
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Writers: Joslyn Barnes; Athina Rachel Tsangari; Jim Crace
Stars: Caleb Landry Jones; Harry Melling; Neil Leiper
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