Tribeca Film Festival: 7 movies you should know about

Earlier this week, the 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival drew to a close after almost two weeks of nonstop screenings and after-parties. Every year since 2001, the festival has attracted critics and cinephiles from around the globe, and this year's lineup was no different, offering an eclectic mix of star-studded features, micro-budget indies, a wide range of documentaries, and a surprisingly robust selection of horror films. (See the full list of Tribeca movies here.)

To cut through all those screenings, here are the biggest and buzziest premieres from the festival. Keep an eye out for them when they appear in your local theater in the months to come.

1. Life Partners

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Directed by Susanna Fogel

Starring Leighton Meester, Gillian Jacobs, and Adam Brody

What is it? Two twenty-something best friends — one gay, one straight — discover that their relationship is changing as their personal and professional priorities begin to diverge.

Should you see it? Yes. Life Partners isn't the most original or groundbreaking comedy, but it offers a warm, thoughtful depiction of a young friendship that features extremely convincing chemistry between Meester and Jacobs. The stakes in Life Partners are relatively small, and the problems easily resolved, but at a time when high-concept comedies have largely taken over the multiplex, it's refreshing to be immersed in a human-sized drama. Life Partners glides along on its charming performances and a witty script by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz, and while it isn't as sharp or original as 2012's Frances Ha — to which it owes a considerable debt — it's well worth your time.

2. Palo Alto

Directed by Gia Coppola

Starring Emma Roberts, James Franco, and Jack Kilmer

What is it? An ensemble drama, based on the James Franco short story collection of the same name, about a loosely connected group of listless, disaffected teenagers.

Should you see it? Do you have the stomach for yet another indie drama about how hard it is to be an entitled white teenager? This is a distinctly minor entry in an already overstuffed canon, and there's no way this source material would have been deemed interesting enough to turn into a feature film if it hadn't been written by James Franco (who shows up as a creepy gym teacher). Palo Alto's blandness is no fault of the actors — Nat Wolff, in particularly, delivers a fascinatingly unhinged performance — but they can't elevate material that would have ended up in Bret Easton Ellis' recycle bin. There is a small silver lining: Palo Alto is beautifully directed, and Gia Coppola is clearly talented enough to make any number of great films in her future. This just isn't one of them.

3. Night Moves

Directed by Kelly Reichardt

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard

What is it? Three environmental activists commit an act of ecoterrorism that has unexpected consequences for everyone involved.

Should you see it? Yes, but keep your expectations in check. Night Moves is a gorgeous and often riveting movie, but it's far more interested in establishing mood than in addressing the myriad questions raised by its plot — which would be fine if it seemed like director Kelly Reichardt had figured out exactly what she was trying to say. The ambiguity of Night Moves extends to star Jesse Eisenberg, whose performance is both unsettling and deliberately impenetrable. Though Night Moves' first half is mesmerizing, the second half is both more unfocused and more conventional. In the end, this is far from Reichardt's best film — but Night Moves possesses enough strengths to make up for its flaws.

4. Match

Directed by Stephen Belber

Starring Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, and Matthew Lillard

What is it? An accomplished dance teacher (Patrick Stewart) sits down for an extended interview with a couple (Carla Gugino and Matther Lillard) whose motives aren't exactly what they seem.

Should you see it? Yes — if only to see Patrick Stewart in the lead role. Stewart is absolutely marvelous in Match, selling each of the movie's occasionally implausible turns as he rapidly shifts between emotions, from whimsy to rage to fear to sadness (and that's only in the first half hour). Stewart's recent film appearances have been largely confined to the X-Men franchise, but Match shows just how much he can do when he's given a role with some genuine depth to it. The rest of Match can't hope to live up to Stewart's towering work, but the twists and turns are enough to keep the story moving forward.

5. About Alex

Directed by Jesse Zwick

Starring Jason Ritter, Aubrey Plaza, and Max Greenfield

What is it? Years after graduating and losing touch, a group of college friends reunites to spend a weekend together in the wake of a failed suicide attempt by a mutual friend (Jason Ritter). But the baggage of various entanglements from their earlier years keeps threatening to catch up with them.

Should you see it? If you're looking for a low-key dramedy about the post-collegiate haze, you could certainly do worse. The marketing materials for About Alex explicitly compare it to The Big Chill, but its aims and its pleasures are far more modest, and its success is due largely to the talents of an enormously likable cast. (At the very least, sitcom fans can enjoy the strangeness of seeing Parks & Recreation's Aubrey Plaza, New Girl's Max Greenfield, and Suburgatory's Jane Levy in one place.) First-time director Jesse Zwick — son of Oscar-winning director Ed Zwick — has essentially delivered the feature-length equivalent of a TV bottle episode, but it's a pretty good one, and he can comfortably set his ambitions a little higher for his next film.

6. 5 to 7

Directed by Victor Levin

Starring Anton Yelchin, Berenice Marlohe, and Olivia Thirlby

What is it? A young writer (Anton Yelchin) living in New York City recalls the life-changing affair he had with an older, married French woman (Berenice Marlohe), which took place with the consent of her husband.

Should you see it? Not unless your tolerance for melodrama is very, very high. 5 to 7's greatest asset is Anton Yelchin, who offers a sweet, soulful lead performance (even if it's basically a variation on his similar work in 2011's Like Crazy). But 5 to 7 has a fundamental over-reliance on voiceover and cutesy gimmicks — a running motif depicting plaques on park benches is particularly grating — in a failed attempt to embellish a central romance that's not particularly interesting. 5 to 7 inexplicably skips over much of the actual "getting to you know" portion of Yelchin and Marlohe's affair with a montage, so it's hard to get invested in the outcome. Despite the hints at extramarital luridness, this is an old-fashioned cinematic love story — but only in the bad ways, from a syrupy score to a script that's bogged down with constant, eye-rolling cliches. Skip it.

7. Beneath the Harvest Sky

Directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly

Starring Emory Cohen, Callan McAuliffe, and Aiden Gillen

What is it? Two troubled teenage boys, both desperate to escape the drudgery of life in their small Maine town, experience life and love during the season's potato harvest.

Should you see it? Yes. Beneath the Harvest Sky is a thoughtful and moving depiction of two young men whose circumstances have resigned them to lives they would never have chosen. Cohen and McAulliffe have previously showed up in small roles in films like The Place Beyond the Pines and The Great Gatsby, but their relative unfamiliarity gives Beneath the Harvest Sky a convincing naturalism, and the film is at its best when it depicts the two young men blowing off steam as they wander aimlessly around their town. Unfortunately, that compelling story eventually gives way to a third act that crams in a level of incident that the story never needed. But despite its misguided conclusion, Beneath the Harvest Sky is a character study worth experiencing.