I guess this is growing up? Set in Tacoma, Zach Weintraub’s tightly scripted feature finds his fictional counterpart “Zach” settling into the realities of adulthood: making uncomfortable calls to his property management company to weasel his way into having his starter house sold out from under his renters, spending days jockeying his tech job from home, taking care of his young daughter, noticing gray hairs and fine lines around his eyes. It happens to the best of us, gradually and then all at once.

In this near-future drama children in an upper crust private school are feeling the pressures of impending final exams, but this isn’t like what we went through. The pressure is beyond ruthless with school, parents and future all looming like a monster overhead. An anonymous “suicide” note litters the school grounds and while teachers try to find its origin, students are succumbing to the stress of it all and may actually make the contents of the note a reality.

The 52nd Seattle International Film Festival kicks off this week! Running in person from May 7-17 the festival features 203 films playing in-person: with most in SIFF’s Lower Queen Anne Headquarters and at the SIFF Downtown.

Starting today, tickets and passes are now available to the public for the Seattle International Film Festival. While we’re digging through the schedule and plotting our own agendas, we thought we’d start by each highlighting a film (or two) from the program that we’re most excited to see or recommend.