Even with access to both the theater press screenings and Tribeca at Home app (for remote access), it was all I could do to catch two dozen of the films. (The app wasn’t working for many users for several days and it would have been nice if they could have extended the days it was available for critics.) Here are my notes of my favorite narrative features from the festival, which is going to remove “Film” from its name next year as so many other media types are being added to the lineup. (I’ll write about docs and shorts later this week.)
Lucía Garibaldi’s “A Bright Future” deservedly won the festival’s “Viewpoints” award. It is a wildly original dystopian drama with some great comic touches. Somewhere in a South America of the near future–where an ecological disaster has made cats, dogs, roosters, rabbits and many other animals extinct–the land is divided into three zones: the very dangerous South, a mediocre middle land and the North, where dogs still live and life is better. There are only two ways to get to the North: score a high IQ in an series of odd tests administered by bureaucrats wearing large sweaters in a 1970’s color palette or win a trip by bidding the most in an auction.
Only people between the ages of 18 and 25 are allowed to take the test and one of them is 19-year-old Elisa (Martina Passeggi). Her older sister is already in the North and her mother (Soledad Pelayo), is saving money to try to win a ticket. The more Elisa learns about the highly regimented life awaiting her in the North the less she wants to go. Meanwhile, a mysterious new neighbor (Sofía Gala Castiglione) introduces her to a scam to earn money for her mother: young women are so scarce, people will pay to smell her skin while blindfolded!
Garibaldi (who also co-wrote the film) creates an incredibly imaginative environment: lacking pets, people collect small speakers that issue cat and dog sounds; ants are rumored to be very dangerous; everyone seems to eat only meat pies and drink tainted wine; Emily and her mother suffer from a skin condition (roseacea); and treacherous people abound. This is Garibaldi’s second feature (her first was the 2019 film “The Sharks”) and I hungrily look forward to the future work of this talented Uruguayan director.
The South Korean film “People and Meat,” directed by Yang Jong-hyun, is one of the most moving films about the plight of poor elderly people I’ve ever seen–I would rank it with Vittorio De Sica’s great 1952 neorealist classic “Umberto D.”
Three elderly, financially struggling Koreans become friends. U-sik (Jang Yong), lives alone with his cat and makes his living collecting and selling cardboard for recycling. One day he gets into a brawl with Hyeon-jung (Park Keun-hyong), another cardboard collector. The funny scrap is witnessed by Hwa-jin (Ye Su Jeong) a female street vegetable seller, who admonishes the two “fools.” Hyeon-jung tries to make it up to U-sik by treating him to food at his house, which is quite nice: he owns it but has no income now, his wife is dead and his two sons have moved abroad and never contact him. After deciding to make beef and radish soup, they ask Hwa-jin to help with the cooking.
Hwa-jin is supporting a grandson who is very aloof and doesn’t seem to appreciate the money she is giving him for his education. All three of them are poor and lonely and this new friendship is promising. When U-sik invites them to eat at a Korean barbeque restaurant they wonder how their friend will afford to pay for this. After the meal he directs them (one goes for a smoke break, another to the restroom) to commit a “dine and dash.” Though shocked at first, the trio begins to steal free meals regularly.
The film expertly balances the comedy and thrill of the crimes with poignant scenes as the three are eventually caught and U-sik struggles with cancer. It was one of the most exciting times of their lives, they all eventually agree–the teamwork, the bonding, the great food, the suspense, the sharing of their life stories. All three of the lead actors give indelible performances in this funny, heart-breaking film that will also leave you craving bulgogi and rice.
“Deep Cover” (which is now streaming on Amazon Prime) is a hilarious comedy about three improv actors who are hired by a London policeman (Sean Bean) to use their skills to go undercover and get the evidence on criminals. An initial attempt to buy illegal tobacco turns into a dangerous run-in with a violent drug distributor.
The trio are Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard), a 39-year-old teacher at the improv school, who is feeling like a failure since her own career never took off, Marlon (Orlando Bloom), a method actor who comically over-analyzes his characters and Hugh (Nick Mohammed of “Ted Lasso” fame), a shy IT worker. They quickly gain the trust of Fly (Paddy Considine), a big time criminal who coaches them as they get involved in increasingly dangerous situations. Bonnie, Roach, and The Squire (as they dub themselves) are quite successful in very funny ways for awhile (always think “Yes, and…” Bonnie keeps reminding them), until Fly’s boss Metcalfe (Ian McShane) becomes suspicious. Tom Kingsley’s direction is very sharp and all of the leads are terrific in this laugh-out-loud feature that has some genuinely surprising twists.
“The Travel Companion,” the feature debut of directors Travis Wood and Alex Mallis, opens with a spot-on satire of post-screening Q&A’s as the filmmakers on hand (including film director Joanna Arnow) awkwardly field questions from a pompous moderator. “What do you mean by ‘distilled’?” one of them asks. 30-something filmmaker Simon (Tristan Turner) doesn’t even get to speak. But one thing Simon has going for him: his best friend and roommate Bruce (Anthony Oberbeck) works at an airline and can get him free standby tickets, enabling him to fly all over the world collecting footage for his next work. But he fears he’ll lose this perk when Bruce begins dating more successful filmmaker Beatrice (Naomi Asa).
Simon is the neurotic member of the bromance, constantly “marinating” ideas about his future documentary, buying a portable “schvitz” machine so he can prosper like the Swedish, alienating Beatrice by accusing her of being privileged and eventually losing his roommate and the free plane tickets. Turner, Oberbeck and Asa are all very skillful actors who get to shine in this well-directed debut.
Listen to Adam Shartoff’s interview with Travis Wood and Alex Mallis.
In “Leads” Heather Kafka plays Mags, a one-hit wonder actor who is now working as an acting teacher at a Texas college. Divorced with a child, heavily in debt, the adoration she feels from her students is her main source of joy. All of this threatens to disappear when her estranged brother Merritt (Justin Arnold) shows up and hijacks her class. They bond with the lovable cowboy as he quickly learns what this whole acting business is about. He alienates her star student (Aaliyah Tardio) and turns an appearance by the successful director (Macon Blair) who made the one horror film Mags got her big break in into a vehicle for his own stardom.
The acting is first-rate here and director Bryan Poyser (who has worked with Kafka before) delivers a warm and funny story about the squashed dreams of talented people.
Listen to Adam Shartoff’s interview with Bryan Poyser.
Nora Kirkpatrick’s debut feature “A Tree Falls in the Woods” gets laughs and tears from a conventional setting: two married couples stuck in a cabin during a snowstorm. Debs (Alexandra Daddario) and Josh (Daveed Diggs) are renting the house. Their friends Mitch (Josh Gad) and Melanie (Ashley Park) are visiting for the weekend. Debs and Mitch are long-time friends who leave early the first morning there and almost get killed when a tree literally falls near them. When they return they see (through an open window) their spouses having sex.
The tension and hijinks that follow as they weigh whether they should confront their adulterous mates works well some of the time. A visit by the owner of the house played by veteran character actor Kevin Pollock lends a welcome surprise to this uneven film. Josh Gad chews up the scenery too much but Daddario gives a wonderful performance.
Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall’s “Man Finds Tape” is a terrific found-footage horror story set in the small town of Larkin, Texas. After Lucas Page (William Magnusen) finds a camcorder tape left by his parents he goes down a rabbit hole of possibilities on his popular website. Local evangelical Reverend Endicott (John Gholson) seems to be involved in something evil but after threatening to sue Lucas the podcaster backs down. A visit from his sister, Lynn (Kelsey Pribilski) is meant as in intervention until she becomes obsessed as well when she realizes that her parents, who ran a small videography business, may have been victims of some ghoulish entity. The film exploits the incredible fascination many of us have with true crime shows to great effect and the video footage and truly scary bloody scenes make this a real edge-of-your-seat watch.