Festivals Reviews SIFF

SIFF 2025: Opening Weekend Picks

The 51st Seattle International Film Festival kicks off tomorrow! Running in person from May 15–25, the festival features 245 films playing in-person across the city — including daily programming at the recently-reopened Cinerama — with many getting online encore screenings the following week. Sorting through the whole program and/or film finder can help you to dial into your exact needs for a cinematic holiday (per SIFF’s vacation-themed, “Trip to the Reel World”), but we’re also here to help.

Last week, we gave you some quick picks in the wake of the press launch. Now, with some more time with the program and some screeners, we have a few more suggestions for how to spend the opening days of the festival.

Festivals Reviews

On Swift Horses charts a midcentury yearning for modern identities

I suppose it’s kinda cool that the Hollywood’s hottest young stars now establish their acting cred by the rite of passage of playing gay on the big screen. At least Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar Jones avoid tragic weepy stereotypes in Daniel Minahan’s handsome literary take (an adaptation Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel) on queer identities in the 1950s American West.

Festivals Reviews

Slamdance 2025: Quick Reviews

While the in-person festival has come to a close, the virtual Slamdance Film festival is in full swing. Nearly every film available at the theaters in LA are now available for streaming for a killer price. I’ll have more pocket reviews coming up!