The 67th SFFilm Festival opens tomorrow, Wednesday, April 24th, and will run through Sunday, April 28th. The Festival is presenting over 45 programs featuring films from 40 countries in venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. We’ve already previewed five of the Fest’s films (two documentaries and three narratives), and below we take a look at five more narrative features:
1.) MOTHER COUCH
(USA, 2023. 96 min)
“You’re all so broken,” a character says of David (Ewen McGregor) and his two half-siblings, Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans) and Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle). But with a mother like theirs, played with alarming intensity by the great Ellen Burstyn, who can blame them? Burstyn’s Mother, who refuses to leave a going-out-of-business furniture store–much to the dismay of her adult children–gives Joan Crawford’s Mommie Dearest a run for her money here. The fantastical elements in Director Niclas Larsson’s debut feature sometimes feel a little heavy-handed, but the exceptional performances–especially McGregor’s–make the picture worth a look. A unique meditation on trauma, forgiveness, and the importance of sibling bonds, the film’s strengths outweigh its more amateur metaphorical moments.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sun., April 28th, 10:00am at Marina Theatre (Member screening–free admission for SFFILM members!)
2.) MABEL
(USA, 2023. 84 min)
If you’re looking for a Festival film the whole family can enjoy, Mabel might be just the ticket. The title falls under the Fest’s Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative, which showcases narrative films that depict scientific themes, and the picture’s emphasis on botany is sure to please amateur horticulturists. Sixth-grader Callie (Lexi Perkel) is one herself, and the film’s title takes its name from the monniker she bestows on her favorite plant. Unhappy after her family moves from rural Virginia to suburban Syracuse, Callie doesn’t hide her discontent. Her loving but frustrated parents and her cheerful younger nextdoor neighbor bear the brunt of Callie’s anger. The film accurately portrays the angst of the junior high years, and kids are bound to find Callie more sympathetic and relatable than adults, whose memory of how hard adolescence can be may be a bit diminished. The film’s parallels between the plant and human worlds aren’t exactly subtle, but they effectively frame Callie’s sometimes rocky but always honest journey toward adulthood.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., April 27, 5:00pm, Vogue Theater (at rush)
3.) HEARTLESS
(Brazil/France/Italy, 2023. 90 min)
Set in 1996 on the northern coast of Brazil and inspired by Brazilian co-director Nara Normande’s own life, Heartless is a fresh take on the summer-after–graduation coming of age drama. Depicting long days of hanging out at the beach, goofing off, watching movies, and making questionable choices, Heartless chronicles the story of Tamara (Maya de Vicq) and her friends as they leave the innocence of childhood behind and begin to encounter the tragedies that life can bring. As Tamara draws closer to a local girl nicknamed Heartless (Eduarda Samara) because of a past heart surgery, both girls grapple with the excitement and fear of impending adulthood. Heartbreaking and wistful yet hopeful and true, Heartless is a lovely reflection on what we discover and what we leave behind as we venture out of our comfort zone and into the world.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Thurs., April 25th, 6:00pm, Premier Theater at One Letterman.
4.) SIDONIE IN JAPAN
(Japan/Switzerland/Germany/France, 2023. 95 min)
Your enjoyment of this French/Japanese collaboration from French director Élise Girard may depend on your tolerance for manifestations of grief appearing as interactive apparitions. The film plays like an earnest cross between A Ghost Story and Lost in Translation. When stalled writer Sidonie (Isabelle Huppert, always worth watching) travels to France on a book tour for a reissue of her most popular–but now very old–book, her connection with her Japanese publisher Kenzo (Tsuyoshi Ihara) helps shake her out of the stupor she’s been in since her husband’s death. Filled with long stretches of weighty silences and soulful looks, the slow, sometimes obvious drama nevertheless succeeds as a beautiful, introspective travelogue of Japan and of its varied guest lodgings in particular.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Fri., April 26, 3:30pm, Marina Theatre
5.) THELMA
(USA, 2023. 97 min)
Writer/director Josh Margolin takes an incident that actually happened to his grandmother (one similar to a recent San Francisco Chronicle story a few months back) and spins it into a poignant story of aging and loss. Margolin’s first feature film has a few tell-tale signs of a newbie filmmaker, including some clunky dialogue and oddly staged scenes, but the film’s heart will win you over. June Squibb, at 93, and the late Richard Roundtree, in his last role, prove that action heroes aren’t limited by advancing age. The two redefine the buddy comedy as they set out to take back money Squbb’s Thelma has accidentally paid to a scammer. Equally strong supporting turns by the always reliable Parker Posey as Thelma’s daughter and Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus’s Quinn) as Thelma’s grandson help elevate the film. Thelma proves that independence, spirit, and courage aren’t just the purview of the young, and although growing older is not without its indignities, being young and finding your way isn’t always easy, either.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sun., April 28, 7:15pm, Premier Theater at One Letterman (at rush)
– Sun., April 28, 8:00pm, Marina Theatre
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The San Francisco International Film Festival open Wednesday, April 24th and closes Sunday, April 28, 2024.
