FAVORITES FROM 2020 SO FAR

It's been a while! I've been busy with a move to Los Angeles, doing schoolwork, lots of scriptwriting, and, more recently, putting the finishing touches on a project I'm really excited to share. Until then, however, I wanted to write about my favorite films of the year so far: where to find them, why you should watch them, and the talents behind them.

BABYTEETH (2020), the remarkable debut feature from Shannon Murphy. An Australian love story centered around a cancer patient and her raggedy boyfriend, I first saw Babyteeth at the AFI Fest in 2019 and it hasn't left me since. Babyteeth works as an intellectually acute and emotionally sensitive drama with an air of freshness not often seen in the arena of cancer dramas. The film also proved the sensational force of Eliza Scanlen in her debut role, who would be seen later in Greta Gerwig's Little Women and The Devil All the Time. Stream on Hulu, or rent on Amazon Video for $3.99.

WELCOME TO CHECHNYA (2020), a haunting, moving, and sincerely groundbreaking documentary chronicling the struggles of LGBTQ+ in Russia, specifically the region of Chechnya. Director David France adapts this documentary to fit a more cinematic sensibility that works in the film's favor, often involving grand (yet unorchestrated) set pieces - involving one harrowing escape via airplane from Chechnya - as well as a dramatic twist that shakes the very foundations of anonymity and the ethics of documentary filmmaking. Stream on HBO, HBOMax, or DirecTV.

AND THEN WE DANCED (2020), a Georgian-Swedish coproduction following the gay love affair of two male dancers auditioning for the National Georgian Ensemble dance group. The film utilizes an ultra-sensitive, extraordinarily poetic, unforgettable perspective on first love and queer relationships that marks the film a powerful exercise in emotional intensity, layered performance, and a questioning of authority. Another film I saw at the 2019 AFI Fest, And Then We Danced is as romantic and powerful as the best love stories. Stream on Amazon Prime, or rent on Amazon Video and Youtube for $3.99.

THE VAST OF NIGHT (2020), an enthralling sci-fi exercise built with a tight script and hoisted by exquisitely intricate detail and production design. Comparisons to The Twilight Zone are obvious, but director Andrew Patterson acknowledges the seminal TV series as an undeniable influence. In fact, The Vast of Night might rank amongst the best episodes of The Twilight Zone if it weren't made tens of years later. The film sucks you in with snappy dialogue and a general sense of foreboding before going all-out-bonkers and upending your expectations. Stream on Amazon Prime.

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (2020), filmmaker Eliza Hittman's follow-up to 2017's Beach Rats, a crowning achievement of natural realism, pointed social critique, as well as a heartbreakingly tender character study. Newcomer and star Sidney Flanagan is the real discovery of the film, performing with a careful balance of tough and tender, hardened yet vulnerable. It would all be so beautiful if it wasn't a bit difficult to watch. However, that's a part of the film. And the titular scene, well...if you aren't moved, you aren't human. Stream on HBO, HBOMax, or buy on AppleTV and Amazon Video for $14.99.