From Rent Free to Griffin In Summer, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
From coming-of-age stories to emotionally charged documentaries, here’s what you should watch or pass on from Tribeca Festival.
Fernando Andrés' Rent Free understands exactly what times are like right now. The economy is a mess and being a young adult can often feel like a never-ending cycle of failure. We meet the chaotic Ben (Jacob Roberts), who lives life spontaneously and with no consequences, and Jordan (David Treviño), who is mostly along for the ride. Though he seems level-headed, he's really hanging on by a loose thread. The pair move to New York City in hopes of conquering the Big Apple, but when Ben's recklessness leads him to give a blow job to their new roommate's partner, they are forced back into their old life.
The great thing about these best friends is that their brightest ideas come when they are at their lowest and drunkest, leading them to create a new challenge: one year, no rent. Roberts and Treviño are absolutely incredible to watch. Their dynamic is so natural and they bounce off each other constantly. The film is real in every aspect. There’s the suffering of post-graduate students feeling pressure to figure out what's next and two best friends attempting everything to stay together while slowly realizing it may be time to go off on their own. Rent Free is hilarious and overdramatic but holds a lot of truth.
- Makkedah Ramsey
Griffin In Summer
Griffin In Summer follows Griffin Naffly (Everett Blunck), a 14-year-old wannabe playwright, bringing his latest work Regrets Of Autumn to life. He uses a surprising crush on handyman Brad (Owen Teague) to make sense of the chaos around him.
If Call Me By Your Name had less sexual tones, you’d have this film. Blunck does a fantastic portrayal of Griffin’s awkwardness throughout the film even his sexual awakening moment. His innocent crush captures the essence of a young teenage boy who’s figuring himself out. However, I felt the characters who portray Griffin’s friends including Kara (Abby Ryder Fortson) weren’t fleshed out enough to make sense on the friction between them and Griffin.
Overall, Griffin In Summer is for the people who felt a little outcasted, weird, or different growing up. It’s a sweet message about a young boy’s journey into tweenhood which I don’t feel like we get a lot of in film.
- Paola Cardenas
Searching For Amani
Searching For Amani is an emotionally charged documentary following 13-year-old aspiring journalist Simon Ali as he tries to uncover the mysterious murder of his father in Kenya’s Laikipia Nature Conservatory. From interviewing the staff to a first-hand witness, Ali pieces together the mystery of that day.
This documentary really highlights how powerful journalism is. It’s admirable to see someone so young compose themselves so well while discovering the truth. I also enjoyed knowing the history and hearing other’s perspectives on why the pastoralists do what they do. It opens up a conversation about climate change, which is something that Africa is deeply affected by despite only contributing to less than 4% of global emissions. The middle of the documentary gets a bit repetitive with various stories on the pastoralists violence and doesn’t have quite an emotional impact as the last 20 minutes of the documentary. Searching For Amani is gripping, honest, compelling, and inspiring. It’s just the beginning of Simon Ali’s career and I hope to see more from him in the future.
- Paola Cardenas
When Everything Burns
In the Argentinian short film When Everything Burns, Isabel is ostracized by the fire brigade she belongs to for attacking a real estate development implicated in forest fires. Determined to forge ahead on her own, she faces her loneliness and frustration in an encounter that will question the essence of her fight.
The short film lacks establishing any context around the forest fires. I think it could’ve benefited from a small explanation about the wildfires that have occurred in Argentina over the past couple years. Despite this, the acting is phenomenal even though very few words are exchanged between characters. The film is also shot very well and has great potential to be improved upon to become a feature film.
- Paola Cardenas
