by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

As the Tribeca Festival wraps up this year, I was able to see 40 features and 70 shorts at home and in theatres. Happily, I caught all the documentaries on my wish list. 

Brats, Andrew McCarthy’s navel-gazing documentary, had moments of illumination and celebration as it recounted how being labeled a member of Hollywood’s “Brat Pack” impacted his and his peers’ careers. Jago into the White also looked at an artistic process as the title artist showed “what it means to create, to make a sculpture” as he “removed the superfluous” to carve a pietà out of a block of marble. And Shelf Life was a reverent documentary about cheesemakers that provided some insights into the tastiest of foods. I also caught the fantastic drama, La Cocina, which features some marvelous set pieces, both comic and dramatic, that unfold over the course of a day at a bustling Times Square restaurant.

In addition, I saw several films at the in-person Press and Industry screenings on the select days I attended the fest. One highlight was Under the Grey Sky, a gripping Polish drama (inspired by a true story) that depicts the nightmare situation that develops for Lena (Aliaksandra Vaitsekhovich) a journalist and her husband, Ilya (Valentin Novopolskij), after she is arrested for her reporting on a demonstration. This film was tense and urgent, speaking out about the consequences of speaking truth to power. 

Less exciting was the caper, Lake George, about an ex-con (Shea Whigham) and the woman he was assigned to kill (Carrie Coon) teaming up to rob the man they both know. Coon’s spiky performance keeps Lake George from being a dud, but this noir-tinged film could have used some style. 

Here is a rundown of five films that had their World Premieres at the Tribeca Festival. 

The Damned
Written by Jamie Hannigan
Directed by Thordur Palsson
Runtime 89 minutes

Early on in this atmospheric thriller, set in gorgeous 19th century Iceland, a character tells a ghost story that is spellbinding for her audience. Viewers who are equally rapt will appreciate The Damned, a horror film about Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow managing a fishing station during a very harsh season. “We should not be here,” she intones, but she perseveres with a half dozen men who work for her. When a ship gets caught in the “teeth” (the rocks), Eva decides not to risk helping the crew—who could kill them—because they can barely feed themselves. Turns out she is damned if she does, and damned if she doesn’t. While Eva is haunted by her decision, a nighttime encounter with the survivors of the shipwreck turns deadly. Moreover, an evil spirit is wreaking havoc on Eva’s men killing them off one by one. The thriller elements here are pretty familiar to genre fans, and the nerve-jangling music is a bit too much, but there are some effective scenes—as when a corpse’s belly shows signs of life, or episodes where Eva’s mind get the best of her. The Damned is an auspicious feature debut for Palsson, and Young delivers a fine performance in the lead role. 

Darkest Miriam
Written and Directed by Naomi Jaye
Runtime 87 minutes

Darkest Miriam is an offbeat but involving romantic drama that joins the recent spate of low-key films about young, depressed single women. (See also: Sometimes I Think About Dying). Miriam (Britt Lower) is grieving over the loss of her father, and largely annoyed by the patrons of the Allan Gardens branch library where she works. She files incident reports about dentures left on a shelf or the book a man used to capture his ejaculate. Things go from bad to worse as she finds a series of notes that are increasingly more personal and threatening. (The police are called in but are unable to assist much.) Miriam also suffers an accident on her bike one afternoon, that further impacts her mental and emotional state. However, Miriam’s drab life brightens when she meets Janko (Tom Mercier), a cab driver, and they begin a relationship. But as they share a cozy domesticity, something happens that prompts Miriam to change. Writer/Director Naomi Jaye, working from Matha Baillie’s source novel, creates a poignant and intimate character study of Miriam, and she is immensely aided by the gifted Britt Lower’s superbly controlled performance. Lower reveals so much of what Miriam is thinking and feeling in her voiceovers as she deals with other troubled souls. Janko tells Miriam he wants to know her stories. Jaye’s bittersweet film reveals her tale(s) with absurdity, sorrow, and grace.   

Eternal Playground
Written and Directed by Joseph Rozé and Pablo Cotton
Runtime 81 minutes

Eternal Playground asks the question: When is it time to grow up? The twenty-something Gaspard (Andranic Manet) is a teacher at the Parisian middle school where he once was a student. After school closes for the summer, Gaspard plans to stay; he has invited five friends from his middle school years to join him to honor Gaspard’s late twin sister Louise’s (Noée Abita) wish to spend five days together. (Louise speaks in voiceovers to Gaspard). Soon Esther (Carla Audebaud), Alma (Nina Zem), Adel (Alassane Diong), and Anthony (Arcadi Radeff) show up and hang out. The friends play games with water and fire extinguishers, have a sing-a-long, and talk about their lives. Alma learns that she is pregnant; Anthony feels ready for responsibility. A fifth friend, Lou (Alba Gaïa Bellugi) arrives and “can’t pretend” or have fun. Yet when an unexpected truth is revealed, the friends re-evaluate their relationships and this “Big Chill” like reunion gets, well, chilly. Eternal Playground embraces the freedom and joys of childhood while also acknowledging the adulting signposts that define our lives. This is an auspicious debut from writer/directors Joseph Rozé and Pablo Cotton—a short, poignant, and magical ode to friendship and youth. 

Restless
Written and Directed by Jed Hart
Runtime 89 minutes

Writer/director Jed Hart’s nifty directorial debut, Restless really should be retitled Relentless because this darkly comic thriller never lets up. It opens with an ominous sequence before cutting back in time to “one week earlier,” when Nicky (Lyndsey Marshal) has her peace and quiet shattered by the arrival of Dean (Aston McAuley) her new neighbor. As Dean’s throbbing techno music blares loudly and long into the wee hours, Nicky’s bedroom starts to vibrate from the noise. Nicky is, of course, unable to sleep. When Dean continues to play his music night after night, Nicky tries to reason with him. But a series of encounters between these two neighbors who share the same wall cause tensions between them. Restless makes this unpleasant situation unbearable and quite tense as Dean’s bad behavior prompts the sleep-deprived Nicky to behave badly and commit act of sabotage in an escalating war. She even threatens Dean when she suspects him of taking her cat. But it is hard not to sympathize with Nicky who is at wits end; her mind even starts to play tricks on her. Even when the story feels like it is spinning out of control and straining credibility, Hart maintains firm grasp of the material. Restless features a highly satisfying confrontation sequence that validates all the anxiety leading up to it. The film also benefits from outstanding sound design and a terrific performance by Marshal, who makes Nicky’s frustrations palpable right up to the last minute.

State of Silence
Written and Directed by Santiago Maza)
Runtime 83 minutes

Santiago Maza’s timely and powerful documentary tells four of the hundreds of stories about Mexican journalists threatened, disappeared, or killed while trying to do their jobs, which involves reporting stories about migrant abuse, narco politics, and ecological and economic concerns impacting citizens and communities. These brave journalists—Jesús Medina, Juan de Dios García Davish, María de Jesús Peters and March Vizcarra—explain how they “become part of the story,” investing themselves, and risking their lives to report on human rights issues. The case studies are fascinating and infuriating. Sandra Luz Hernandez was a “pebble in the shoe” of authorities as she searched for her son who was disappeared and was killed in her efforts to seek justice. The journalists may not choose to die for their ideals, but they sometimes leave everything behind, “closing a door they may never come back to” one says, when they leave Mexico because their reporting struck a nerve. “Forget your work, your life is worth more,” is a constant refrain that the journalists hear, but not investigating is not an option. Maza deftly captures the fear and loneliness that is the toll of the precarious job “covering pain.” State of Silence also highlights the efforts of the Committee to Protect Journalists, but even that non-profit agency can only do so much given the impunity that fails to punish or solve the more than 163 murders and dozens of disappeared cases. The journalism by the film’s subjects stirs something in the people who read the reporting, the film insists. State of Silence will stir viewers with its urgent, cogent call for action and protection.