I’ll Be Gone in June

Franny, a melancholy German exchange student newly arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, begins the school year yearning to find her place in a town seemingly lost to time. As the community reels from grief and confusion in the wake of 9/11, Franny feels adrift as she struggles to forge connections with those around her. And then she meets Elliott, a mysterious boy with whom she finds kinship in a shared sense of alienation.

Set against the otherworldly landscapes and rural decay of southern New Mexico, director Katharina Rivilis trains a keen eye on a singular place and moment in time from her own past in her semi-autobiographical debut. Through Franny’s unique perspective as an outsider, a window opens into the deeply rooted social complexities of Las Cruces—and of the U.S.—at a pivotal historical inflection point of tragedy and renewed patriotism. At once political, timely, and intimately resonant, I’ll Be Gone in June brilliantly captures the restlessness and ennui of growing up during a monumental yet fleeting year of discovery.