Every year, the Tribeca Film Festival takes over the movie theaters of lower Manhattan, offering eager cinephiles a first look at more than 100 films from established Hollywood giants and talented up-and-comers. With the festival half over, which films should you keep an eye out for in the months ahead — or go out of your way to avoid? Let The Week be your guide:
1. The Overnight
Directed by Patrick Brice
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Starring Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, and Judith Godreche
(Image credit: (John Guleserian))
What is it? Just days after relocating to Los Angeles, a young married couple (Scott and Schilling) meet a charming stranger (Schwartzman) after their children strike up a friendship in a park. When he invites them over for dinner to his family's beautiful mansion that evening, they're convinced they've found their new best friends — but as the night goes on, it becomes clear that their hosts have more on their minds than a playdate.
Should you see it? Definitely. It would spoil the fun if I revealed any of The Overnight's many surprises — but the film is consistently hilarious and discomforting and weird, and it goes down all kinds of paths you're not likely to see coming. Writer/director Patrick Brice expertly escalates the situation, beginning with a few oddities that could be shrugged off as "California stuff," before building to some genuinely jaw-dropping scenes. He also found the perfect lead actors for this material: Adam Scott's trademark brand of squinty, stuttering deadpan is an ideal match for Jason Schwartzman's warm verbosity. The Overnight is by far the edgiest comedy I've seen so far this year — and also probably the best.
2. Hungry Hearts
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Directed by Saverio Costanzo
Starring Adam Driver, Alba Rohrwacher, and Roberta Maxwell
What is it? Upon the birth of their son, a young married couple (Driver and Rohrwacher) find themselves at odds about the best way to raise a child. As his wife grows increasingly obsessed with controlling their son's diet, medications, and even his general contact with the outside world, her husband begins to fear that her insistence on following her maternal instincts will lead to the death of their child.
Should you see it? Yes. After opening with a meet-cute scene between Driver and Rohrwacher that could be cut and pasted into a Hollywood rom-com, Hungry Hearts evolves into a kind of horror film about helicopter parenting. Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher is relatively unknown in the United States, but she's terrifically unnerving as Mina, taking the understandable concerns of a new parent to uncomfortable extremes. It's the kind of thing that can destroy an otherwise happy marriage, and Hungry Hearts conjures up plenty of dread in the growing conflict, as the couple's beautiful Brooklyn apartment morphs into a claustrophobic philosophical battleground. And just when it seems obvious where Hungry Hearts is going, a clever ending twists the knife one final time on the idea that parents will do anything for their children.
3. Mojave
Directed by William Monahan
Starring Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Louise Bourgoin, and Walton Goggins
What is it? While wandering alone in the desert, a celebrity (Hedlund) has a bizarre encounter with a stranger (Isaac) who hints that he might be the devil. Upon returning to Los Angeles, the celebrity finds himself stalked by his adversary, leading to an uneasy conflict that seems likely to leave at least one of them dead.
Should you see it? Yes, but don't expect too much. Mojave is patchy, and the screenplay could definitely have used a little more polish. There are lots of intriguing concepts in Mojave, which combines hard-boiled plotting with a kind of Shakespearean grandiosity. But in the end, writer/director William Monahan — best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Departed — focuses too heavily on the movie's oppressive sense of mood, leaving much of the actual plot in obscurity (or, if you're feeling less generous, incoherence). Fortunately, Mojave has another standout quality: a wonderfully unhinged, eccentric performance by Oscar Isaac, which is more than enough reason to check it out.
4. When I Live My Life Over Again
Directed by Robert Edwards
Starring Amber Heard, Christopher Walken, Kelli Garner, Hamish Linklater, and Oliver Platt
What is it? A young, aimless musician (Heard) navigates her uneasy relationship with her family, including her father (Walken), a once-legendary singer whose star has long since faded.
Should you see it? If you're in the market for another indie drama about rich white people and their existential crises, you could do worse. Though he's not all that plausible as a famed Sinatra-style crooner, When I Live My Live Over Again benefits immensely from the eccentric energy of Christopher Walken. Amber Heard — who has been on the verge of breaking into the mainstream for the better part of a decade — gets a solid opportunity to show off both her acting and music chops as prodigal daughter Jude. When I Live My Life Again's primary weakness is its sheer familiarity— but if a movie is going to feel like a cover song, it's nice to have a solid rendition.
5. The Adderall Diaries
Directed by Pamela Romanowsky
Starring James Franco, Ed Harris, Amber Heard, and Christian Slater
What is it? Based on Stephen Elliott's memoir/true-crime hybrid of the same name, The Adderall Diaries follows the troubled and often drug-addled writer (Franco) as he navigates a high-profile murder trial, a new romance with a fellow writer (Heard), and his own traumatic past with an abusive father (Harris).
Should you see it? No. Peppered with gauzy flashbacks and a few too many side plots, The Adderall Diaries is unfocused and uneven, distilling a complicated story into a blandly conventional three-act structure. Director Pamela Romanowsky attempts to make The Adderall Diaries into a drama about the unreliability of memory, but the film's insights are undone by a ludicrous and tonally jarring, happy-ish ending that punts on all the questions it originally raised. (For what it's worth, the real Stephen Elliott has written a thoughtful and clear-eyed reflection on the movie's various inaccuracies — a 2,000-word story that's more revealing and insightful than anything you'll see in The Adderall Diaries.)
6. The Driftless Area
Directed by Zachary Sluser
Starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes, and Frank Langella
What is it? An oddball blend of magical realism and rustic noir, The Driftless Area follows Pierre, a Midwestern bartender (Yelchin) who falls in love with an arson victim (Deschanel). When Pierre steals $77,000 from a violent criminal (Hawkes), he sets the stage for a deadly conflict involving an array of eccentric locals and two-bit criminals.
Should you see it? No. You might be drawn in by The Driftless Area's intriguing setting and sprawling, unconventional cast (which also includes small parts for actors like Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat, Parks & Recreation's Aubrey Plaza, and Game of Thrones' Ciaran Hinds). Do not be fooled. The Driftless Area is a jumbled, frustrating mishmash of clashing tones and half-baked ideas that never adds up to anything resembling a convincing whole. For much of The Driftless Area's runtime, the actors seem to be in totally different movies — and with the exception of Hawkes' passable black-comedy crime story, all of them are bad.
Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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