Synopsis

From writer/director Nia DaCosta comes a provocative, modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play. Hedda (Tessa Thompson) finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.

Synopsis

As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.

Synopsis

If Invasion of the Body Snatchers traded pods for human pyramids and took place in a Japanese high school, it would be New Group.

Ai is an ordinary schoolgirl easily swayed by the opinions of her peers. But her worldview begins to change with the arrival of nonconformist newcomer Yu, who returns from living abroad just in time to witness a series of unexplained events taking hold in their community. The bizarre phenomenon begins with a student freezing on all fours in the middle of a soccer field; soon, others join in, positioning themselves alongside and on top of him. Before long, the entire town is overrun with human pyramids. In a world where no one is safe from these random gymnastic formations—or the self-styled fascist leadership aligning itself with these “new groups”—Ai and Yu must renounce individualism and assimilate or face destruction.

A disarming and strange second feature from director Yûta Shimotsu, New Group takes body horror in grotesque directions to create an eerie new entry in the contemporary J-horror canon. The uncanny contortions gleefully captured by the filmmaker’s kinetic camera are both funny and disturbing—but the film’s astute commentary on the rise of authoritarianism in today’s world is what’s most unsettling.

Synopsis

Set in modern-day Tokyo, Rental Family follows an American actor (Brendan Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.

Synopsis

Based on the beloved novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton), whose life unfolds during an era of unprecedented change in early 20th century America. Orphaned at a young age, Robert grows into adulthood among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the nation’s railroad empire alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys (Academy Award nominee Felicity Jones) and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality, and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled.

An ode to a vanishing way of life, an ever-evolving world, and to the extraordinary possibilities that exist within even the most simple of existences, Train Dreams captures a time and place that are now long gone, and the people who built a bridge to a future they could only dream of.

Screening in 35mm on Mon, Oct 20.

Awards Event

Mon, Oct 20 @ 6:30pm

At this screening, director and co-writer Clint Bentley will receive the Festival’s Artistic Achievement Award in Directing, and actor Joel Edgerton will receive the Festival’s Artistic Achievement Award in Acting.

Clint Bentley is an Academy Award-nominated writer, director, and producer whose feature directorial debut, Jockey, premiered in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. With frequent collaborator Greg Kwedar, Bentley co-wrote and produced 2023’s Oscar-nominated drama Sing Sing.

Joel Edgerton is an acclaimed Australian actor, writer, and filmmaker who has starred in films
including The Great Gatsby, Zero Dark Thirty, Warrior, Black Mass, Loving, and The Gift, which also
marked his directorial debut. Most recently, he starred in the series Dark Matter and Charlie Polinger’s The Plague, which premiered at Cannes and is screening at the Festival.