Five Movies to See at the Seattle International Film Festival

The Seattle Film Festival is in full swing, with dozens of screenings occurring in the Emerald City. Here are five we’re excited about. See them at the Seattle Film Film Festival, or look out for them in theaters after the festival ends.

After the Storm

This  2016 Japanese film captures the story of a man seeking forgiveness from, and refuge in an ex-wife and son that he spent years neglecting. It’s a quiet, subtle study of both the beauty and banality of family life. Screenings were in May, and the Pan Pacific Seattle crew

8 Borders, 8 Days

After months of waiting tor the U.S. to grant her and her two small children visas, Sham takes her family’s fate into her own hands by fleeing Syria on a smuggler’s raft bound for Lesbos, Greece. A timely portrait of the horrors of the Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis, 8 Borders, 8 Days stresses the consequences and dangers of global indifference.

Beach Rats

This 2017 film from Eliza Hittman follows Frankie, a pot-smoking, womanizing, derelict teenager living on the outskirts of Brooklyn, who begins to explore his sexuality with men in internet chat rooms. It’s a fascinating study of masculinity and coming of age, making it an excellent follow-up to Barry Jenkins’ 2017 Academy Award winning, Moonlight.

Inversion

Unmarried and without children, Niloofar seems the natural care-taker of her mother, who suffers from chronic pulmonary disease due to Tehran’s heavy pollution. When Niloofar’s older, fiscally irresponsible brother, Farhad, pressures her to give up a successful tailoring business in the city to tend to their mother full time, she begins to assert her independence, and challenge the patriarchal forces holding her back.

Landline

Set in 1995 Manhattan, this comedy tracks two sisters (comedian Jenny Slate and newcomer Abby Quinn) as they stumble upon love letters their father has been writing to an unknown woman. Chock full of 90s nostalgia, this breezy family flick is sure to please anyone who grew up without cordless phones, text messaging and Snapchat.