Greetings again from the darkness. It’s feasible for a filmmaker to have the best intentions with a project, and for whatever reason, the end result just not be satisfying. This appears to be the case with this latest from Heather Graham, who wrote, directs, and stars in a film meant to inspire us to take control of our own life and stop blaming others for the obstacles or our own poor decisions.
Ms. Graham (BOOGIE NIGHTS, 1997) stars as Ann, a self-described people-pleaser who teaches yoga at a studio she doesn’t own in a coastal Rhode Island community that looks to be somewhat affluent. Somehow, her sparsely attended yoga classes must pay well, as Ann lives in a stunning home overlooking the water. Her first mission is to pick up her sister Clio (Julia Stiles, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, 1999) from drug rehab and drop her at their parents’ house. Dad (Michael Gross) is a religious zealot constantly accusing Ann of “living in sin”, while Mom (Julie Halston) is filled with regret that she never pursued the singing career she desired. This is Ann’s family, so given the film’s title, you can likely guess where this is headed.
In contrast to her chaotic family, Ann has a group of very close friends who support her. Max (Thomas Lennon, “Reno 911”) is opening a new waterfront restaurant with the help of his wife Francis (Oscar winner Odessa Rae) and their friend Roz (Andrea Savage, STEP BROTHERS, 2008). Ann’s poor/comical track record with boyfriends is a constant point of discussion, and Max introduces her to his contractor, Steve (John Brotherton, FURIOUS 7, 2015). Steve is a nice man and the two hit it off.
Things change quickly when Steve agrees to introduce Ann to his daughter Lilly (Ella Grace Helton, “Sweet Magnolias”), who hasn’t handled her parents’ divorce very well. That’s an understatement. In fact, Lilly displays the psychotic behavior of someone who has been a psychopath-in-training for years. She’s manipulative and vindictive, and has no intention of letting Ann come between her and good ol’ dad.
I’d like to say this piece of the story is overdone to the extreme, but again, that would be an understatement … one capped off with a totally inappropriate hip-hop dance contest between Ann and Steve’s child, Lilly. This happens around the time that Ann posts an all-too-honest vlog while wearing a bikini and dissing her family. Somehow, all of this is supposed to be played as comedy, but mostly it’s kind of pathetic seeing grown adults act the way they do here. At least Lilly’s obnoxious behavior can be explained as a young kid going through a stressful destruction of the only life she’s known.
Ann’s vlog brings her notoriety as an influencer, yet she continues to kowtow to Steve, her parents, and her sister. Things come to a head when Ann gets her big yoga break on stage at an exposition. Chaos ensues on stage and it (finally) awakens something in Ann.
We get a quick dose of a horrific backstory involving Ann and Clio as kids, but it’s never explored, and Ms. Graham handles most of Ann’s scenes with a mixture of bug eyes and squinting in disbelief. The end result may not be what we’ve come to expect from movies, but it’s the sensible finale that gives meaning to the film’s title. There is very little real humor in this comedy, and though just about any of the story lines could have been more fully developed, we are instead left with a mishmash of Ann’s own making … which turns out to be the moral of the story.
Available for digital download beginning April 21, 2025
Posted by David Ferguson 
Sometimes a getaway to a Greek isle is meant only to be a good time. Such is the ongoing popularity of the stage production “based on the songs of ABBA”. The Swedish band’s global success was first derived through these songs in the 1970’s. In 1997, British playwright Catherine Johnson wrote the story that led to the smash stage musical (1998), followed up by the blockbuster film in 2008 (starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried). Both the stage production and the film were directed by Phyllida Lloyd. The most recent of many incarnations of the stage musical continues this year with a United States tour, a six-month stint on Broadway (beginning in August 2025), and finally, an international tour.
Greetings again from the darkness. Some folks just kind of float through life feeling ‘not seen’ … even though their inner voice speaks to them incessantly. This describes Clementine/Clem, a Pharmacy Technician who specializes in holding her tongue in most social and family situations. When her beloved dad dies, Clem is forced to cohabitate with her less than warm-hearted stepmom. This is the set-up for the first feature film from writer-director Miv Evans.
Greetings again from the darkness. While I’m unsure whether this qualifies as a tetraology, this oddball and zany film consists of four separate yet interrelated stories with crossover characters. Previous collaborations from the film’s co-writers and co-directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, include CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019), the underrated IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY (2010), and SUGAR (2008).
Greetings again from the darkness. When most people think of unicorns, they picture something along the lines of “My Little Pony”, or some other lovable, cuddly animal from a kids’ story. This feature film debut from writer-director Alex Scharfman is definitely not that. In fact, the inspiration from the classic JURASSIC PARK (1993) is quite evident in these unicorns (and one of the main themes). Welcome to a fantasy-comedy-slasher with more than a dash of social commentary.
Greetings again from the darkness. Penguins are darn cute. A penguin that follows you around and chooses to live with you is almost too cute for words. But in this story inspired by true events, that’s exactly what happens. Directed by Peter Cattaneo (THE FULL MONTY, 1998), the film was adapted by screenwriter Jeff Pope (PHILOMENA, 2014) from Tom Michell’s 2015 book.
Greetings again from the darkness. Bob Trevino is the kind of father we all wish we had. He’s the kind of father that would raise kids who would grow into good citizens, resulting in an improved society. Only that Bob Trevino is not Lily Trevino’s dad. Her dad is a raging narcissist, or more accurately, a self-centered jerk. This feature film debut from writer-director Tracie Laymon is ‘inspired’ by her true-life story, albeit with enough elements changed to avoid a lawsuit from her dad. That part doesn’t make for such a warm-fuzzy story, but the film she delivers wraps us in a coat of kindness and niceness and feel-goodness (not really a word, but it fits).
Greetings again from the darkness. St. Patrick’s Day 2025 marks the 35th anniversary of the single largest unsolved property theft in the world. On that day, thieves made off with hundreds of millions of dollars of artwork from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and Manet). The reward offer of $10 million still stands. Writer-director Eric Aronson presents his feature film debut, inspired by the crime … though he admits, “this is not what happened.”
Greetings again from the darkness. In decades past, we wouldn’t have been surprised in the least to see a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Dennis Quaid. In fact, in 1973 Jack co-starred with Dennis’ brother Randy in one of my favorite films, THE LAST DETAIL. Well, here we are more than fifty years later, and Dennis’ (and Meg Ryan’s) son Jack Quaid is co-starring with Jack’s son Ray Nicholson in what is sure to be one of this year’s most outlandish action-comedies. The screenplay is by Lars Jacobson and the film is co-directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who also collaborated on BODY (2015).
Below are recaps of some of the short films I watched at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival.
