SIFF prides itself on its selection of offbeat films, and for that I am thankful. Man cannot subsist on documentaries about indigenous water rights and unfairness in the Mexican penal system alone. I don’t know if these are going to be the weirdest movies at SIFF (Fucktoys and Spermageddon issue some promises in their respective titles I expect them to deliver on), these are some of the notable, uhh, unique offerings so far.
By Design (2025 | USA | 90 minutes | Amanda Kramer)
Right now, I’m trying to decide if By Design is best weird movie at SIFF or the weirdest good movie. Either way, it’s probably not for everyone but I loved it. Juliette Lewis stars as a single woman of a certain age who is taken by a particular piece of furniture in a shop she sees one night browsing with friends. She’s taken by the chair (it is a majestic chair) but put off by its price. Deciding she cannot live without the chair, she returns to the store the next morning and finds the chair sold to a man named Olivier. If she can’t have the chair, she adopts the next best thing and becomes the chair. The less I say, the better. There’s a ton of dark humor and playfulness in this absurdist film. Amanda Kramer, director and screenwriter, is a true visionary and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
- TUESDAY, MAY 20 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 9:00 PM
- WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 4:30 PM
- AVAILABLE TO STREAM: YES
- Cast member Alisa Torres scheduled to attend
New Jack Fury (2025 | USA | 89 minutes | Lanfia Wal)
Truth be told, I found the first several minutes of New Jack Fury incredibly grating. It is overflowing with self-awareness and campiness. By steady attrition, though, I began to find it quite funny. It is a parody of blacksploitation cinema disguised as a basic cable “movie of the week.” The plot revolves around a former cop (Andre Hall; how he became “former” is a running gag throughout the movie) whose girlfriend (Dawn Aneada) is kidnapped by the arch villain Silkwaan Styles (Page Kennedy). To get his girlfriend back, the hero enlists the help of two area men, one who is a badass who looks like Michael Jackson and the other looks like Rick James in a blonde wig. It’s got a charm because the film fully commits to its bit. (Alliteration not intended.) The commercials were among the funniest parts (which included ads for products like Mrs. Butterface syrup and the Whippee Cushion). New Jack Fury really, really wants to become a cult classic. It wouldn’t be so bad if it became one.
- SATURDAY MAY 17 – SIFF Cinema Downtown – 11:59 PM
- SUNDAY, MAY 18 – Shoreline Community College – 7:30 PM
- AVAILABLE TO STREAM: YES
- Director Lanfia Wal scheduled to attend
Time Travel is Dangerous (2024 | United Kingdom | 99 minutes | Chris Reading)
Time Travel is Dangerous is a mockumentary that sees itself as something akin to Back to the Future meets This is Spinal Tap. It generates many laughs as it purports to tell the story of two area women, Ruth and Megan, who run a struggling vintage shop in London. While rummaging through trash bins, they find an abandoned time machine. It provides a boon to the store because Ruth and Megan are able to go back in time and bring back authentic relics from previous eras. That’s all well and good until they garner the attention of the local science group of weirdos called T.E.S.T.E.S.. It turns out there are some complications, like wormholes, that prove its title. There are many jokes and gags, several of them are funny.
- FRIDAY, MAY 23 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 6:30 PM
- SATURDAY, MAY 24 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 12:00 PM
- AVAILABLE TO STREAM – YES
The 2025 Seattle International Film Festival runs from May 15-25 in person and May 26-June 1 online. Keep up with our reactions on social media (@thesunbreak) and follow our ongoing coverage via our SIFF 2025 posts