Alex (Bethany Brown) has been abandoned in the woods by her boyfriend Joey (Chris McNally). After his cliffside proposal ended with rejection, Joey quietly packs up his things and drives off. A disoriented and now injured Alex is found by a couple camping nearby. Known as the newlywed bank robbers, Kianna (Tandia Mercedes) and Matt (Cody Kearsley) are on the run from authorities. Eschewing a life of responsibility, they amass millions from their crimes and hide out in the Canadian wilderness to escape the trappings of capitalism. Alex is instantly drawn to the couple, especially Kianna with whom she develops a romantic bond. When Matt’s abuse escalates, Alex and Kianna plot an escape.
“A Safe Distance is a feminist reframing of the classic ‘lovers on the run’ story that asks as many questions as it answers. It’s about a woman’s decision to shirk society’s expectations in favour of a life of crime and sexual liberation, and how that decision sets off a chain reaction of events that will change her life forever.”
— Gloria Mercer, Director’s Statement
A sexy psychological thriller with a hypnotic slow burn, A Safe Distance will have you hooked from the very beginning. Directed by Gloria Mercer and written by Aidan West, this film is an expansion on the short film by the same name released in 2021. In a feature length format, it can take its time conveying the resiliency of women when faced with the trappings of patriarchy. I appreciated the film’s focus on the female characters and how the two male protagonists were almost interchangeable in their appearance. This will be of particular interest in anyone looking for sapphic stories. It also fits into the subgenre of “be gay, do crime” and in the ongoing conversations about alpine divorce. Catch this one if you can!
A Safe Distancehad its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film & Television Festival.
Rana (Medalion Rahimi) is working as a caretaker for a wealthy family in Cape Cod when she impulsively agrees to get married for a green card. She’s been hooking up with her boss Rebecca’s (Joey Lauren Adams) son Adam (Logan Miller) and they both agree to throw a small wedding at the home. Rana invites her two best friends, who are the closest she has to family as her mother still resides in Iran, to the event. Setareh (Laya Mohammadi) is a lawyer who is struggling to come to terms with her boyfriend Pat’s (Richie Moriarty) change in career. Nadia (Dalia Rooni) is a fitness coach who is in a loving relationship with Ryan (Michael Bazsler) but is too strong-willed to take the next step with him. The trio come together to both celebrate and commiserate. Alternately speaking in English and Persian, they discuss Rana’s big decision while also grappling with their own romantic futures.
Among the cast of characters at the beach house is Malena (Lauren Noll ), Adam’s attractive lesbian half-sister who has Setareh questioning her sexuality. Siddartha (Kevin Neal), a kooky spiritual guide and personal advisor to Rana, is as eager to officiate the ceremony as he is to collect the Venmo payment for his services.
Credit: Nathaniel Krause
Directed by Lauren Noll and written by Dalia Rooni, Same Same But Different is a modern day romantic comedy that has all the charm of its mainstream counterparts with more dynamic and realistic characters. At the heart of this movie is a story about a friendship, one that is tightly bonded in culture and that thrives on mutual love and understanding. The movie does take a bit too long to establish the characters and loses momentum in the beginning. But stick with it because once it picks up and proceeds at delightful pace with a satisfying payout.
Same Same But Different is based on a true story. In a Q&A screenwriter Dalia Rooni (who also plays Nadia in the film) says,
“this story was inspired by a real weekend that I now see as the turning point of my life. I was invited to a spontaneous wedding on Cape Cod, where my free-spirited foreign friend married a man she had only been dating for a short time…Alongside the joy, there was something else, something that felt almost like grief. For the first time, I understood what it meant to lose my innocence. I felt the quiet, painful threshold of becoming a woman.”
Movies like Same Same But Different demonstrate what the world of indie filmmaking has to offer: vibrant and unique stories that audiences have been craving.
Same Same But Different had its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film and Television Festival.
24 Hours After Reading Tuesdays with Morrie Director: Scott Tinkham Grappling with one’s mortality can feel like being punched in the face. A bit disjointed but I appreciated how it embodied an existential panic attack.
Baba I’m Fine Director: Karina Dandashi Sweet story about a dad cheering up his teenage daughter after her breakup. Fun emo musical framing.
Ben’s Sister Director: Emma Weinswig
Set in 2015 before a massive cultural shift took hold in America, this drama focuses on bored teens manipulating each other for the sake of a “scav hunt”. Not for everyone but intriguing time capsule nonetheless.
Brief Somebodies Director: Andy Reid
Imaginative short examines the awkwardness of acting out intimate scenes. I enjoyed how this film examined how the two actors compartmentalize their characters and their real attraction to each other.
Entre Tormentas Director: Fran Zayas
Quiet but powerful drama about a man on a mission to bring back the body of his brother who recently committed suicide. Drives home the message that we need to care for one another even someone dies.
Grandma’s Four Color Cards Director: Sally Tran
Beautifully evokes the privilege of living a long life but also the daily struggle to keep going. Lovely performance by the 101 year old actress. Note to self: “a talking frog will bring good luck to your life.”
How Was Your Weekend? Director: Cam Banfield
Corporate culture turns sinister when a worker dares to go off script when asked the question “how was your weekend?” Great concept and execution. Anyone with experience in the corporate world will relate to the pressure of maintaining office pleasantries especially when you don’t feel like it.
I’m The Most Racist Person I Know Director: Leela Varghese
A sweet lesbian romance between two POC women. This honest exploration of internalized racism framed within a beautiful love story is quite restorative.
Max Distance Director: Marissa Goldman
A quirky comedy about isolation in the Zoom age and the awkwardness of dating. A bit aimless but nonetheless enjoyable.
Nervous Energy Director: Eve Liu
“Let’s make beautiful films.” Sometimes as a woman you need to get rid of negative energy to focus on your creative life. Cathartic. Intense.
One Day This Kid Director: Alexander Farah
A young Arab Muslim’s life as a gay man comes in direct conflict with his conservative upbringing. Stunning film about breaking and mending familial ties. Powerful performance by the lead actor who plays the adult Hamed.
Out for Delivery Director: Chelsea Christer
A dying woman arranges the delivery of her death with dignity medication and the pickup of her remains but mishaps get in the way. This dark comedy handles a delicate subject through an absurdist lens and demonstrates how automation removes the humanity from our collective experiences.
The Sentry Director: Jake Wachtel
A murdered guard in Cambodia haunts the spy who killed him. I always appreciate when a short film can take one small trope and expand upon it. This film morphs from action thriller to buddy comedy to tenderhearted drama in the most satisfying way.
The Singers Director: Sam Davis
A regular night at the dive bar turns into an impromptu singing competition. Evokes the idea that we never really know what talents lie within others. It has a beautiful slow build and will make you tear up by the end.
Strangers in the Same Shirt Director: Anthon Chase Johnson
Common enemies (their dad, high school teacher Mrs. Abbott, tiresome wedding guests) unite estranged half-siblings at their dad’s third wedding. Seemingly simple story but with unexpected layers and a rather satisfying buildup.
Synthesize Me Director: Bear Damen
A daughter dealing with the aftermath of her mother’s death reconnects with her memory by playing with her synthesizers much to her father’s dismay. Aptly depicts the danger of taking unregulated emotions out on the vulnerable.
Unholy Director: Daisy Friedman
A young woman struggles at a family Passover Seder now that she can only eat through a feeding tube. The situation is particularly tenuous because food is such an integral part of the Jewish culture and makes the protagonist feel “unholy”. Superb little film. Audiences will find the painful awkwardness of family gatherings is so relatable.
WassupKaylee Director: Pepi Ginsberg
The emotionally distant Kaylee @WassupKaylee joins a content house and forms a tenuous connection with another creator. The film depicts the content creators’ startling disconnect with reality and gives us a glimpse into a space where constant performance is expected and vulnerability is not.
Yú Cì (Fish Bones) Director: Kevin Xian Ming Yu
A non-binary Asian-American reconnects with their closeted father after a fishing incident. This quiet slice-of-life movie says a lot with a little.
“I think the problem is you’re not so good at reading situations.”
Cora (Megan Stalter) is awkward as hell. Ever since she left behind her life in Portland, Oregon and moved to Los Angeles to make it as a solo musician, she can’t seem to do anything right. Her open relationship with her girlfriend Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs) is suffering. When she’s not performing terrible sets, much to her frustrated talent agent’s dismay, she’s smoking pot, going to random parties and hooking up with strangers. It seems like every interaction she has with another human being is going to be a painful experience. Cora, or Cora Bora as her parents like to call her, heads back to Portland to attend Justine’s party. But really she’s trying to sabotage Justine’s new relationship with Riley (Ayden Mayeri). Along the way she meets another musician (Manny Jacinto). He’s a caring young man who sees beyond her awkwardness to the cool cat Cora that she used to be.
Written by Rhianon Jones and directed by Hannah Pearl Utt, Cora Bora is a deliciously self-deprecating comedy about a young woman at a crossroads in her life. There is a plot twist later on in the movie that explains why Cora is on this downward spiral. It’s supposed to be an a-ha! moment in the film. However, it would have been more effective if the montage at the beginning of the movie—that depicts Cora playing with her band— led into an emotionally powerful intro that would have endeared the viewer more to Cora and her plight. Having the revelation so late in the story keeps the viewer from cheering Cora on to her eventual reemergence. With that said, it also has the effect of keeping the viewer guessing. We’re another stranger in the story, trying to make sense of this beguiling character whose unlikable until she’s not. Megan Stalter really nails it with her performance as Cora. The awkwardness is done to great effect but never over done. Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri and Jojo T. Gibbs are all really fantastic as the young people navigating the treacherous waters of Cora’s life.
While some of the situations are seemingly implausible, Cora Bora does feel a realistic depiction of younger millennial/Gen Z-er navigating their new adult life. Recommended for anyone looking for a fresh new comedy with a healthy dose of angst.
For 16 year old Jaime (Anwen O’Driscoll), life will never be the same. When her father dies suddenly of a heart attack, her distraught mother sends her from their home in Thunder Bay, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec to stay with her aunt Beth (Liane Balaban) and uncle Jean-Francois (Antoine Yared). They are devout Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jaime must attend religious services with them if she’s going to live with them. At the Kingdom Hall Jamie meets Marike (June Laporte), a fellow teenager who immediately catches her eye. The two develop a strong emotional bond that quickly becomes something romantic. Jaime is caught in between two worlds and leans on her friend Nathan (Hasani Freeman) who becomes a much needed ally outside of her family’s religious community.
You Can Live Forever is an astounding queer drama that accurately depicts what life is like in a close knit—and closed off—religious community. Anwen O’Driscoll and June Laporte bring an intensity to their roles that is palpable. They convey so well the bond between these two teenagers and the pain of having to keep their love for each other secret. It was fascinating to watch Jaime’s outsider perspective as she’s thrust into this new world that has its own language, custom, culture and expectations. I only wish that Nathan’s character had more to do in the story.
The film is written and directed by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts and Watts herself grew up queer in a community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In her director’s statement Watts writes:
“I grew up gay in a Jehovah’s Witness community in a small northern town. As a teenager, I was eager to see a story with a character who even remotely resembled me on the movie screen. But I was always disappointed. For years, [Mark and I] worked together to create a film that could honor my own background and the experiences of other young people in a similar predicament. You Can Live Forever is the movie I always wanted to see as a teenager.”
There are very few depictions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in film and almost always the filmmakers get some aspects of that religion’s culture wrong. You Can Live Forever is spot on in every single aspect. Every single one. Even down to the style of chairs found in a Kingdom Hall, the specific language used in the community and even the annoyance felt when others call them “Jehovahs” instead of Jehovah’s Witnesses. How do I know that the depiction of this religion is accurate? Because I grew up in this religion myself. It’s been nearly two decades since I stepped inside of a Kingdom Hall. You Can Live Forever brought all of those memories back. Like Watts, this is a movie I would have wanted to have seen as a teen. I repressed my own sexuality for many years, due to my upbringing, and film like this would have given me a much needed mirror. I commend Watts and Slutsky for bringing to life such a beautiful, honest and touching queer drama.
Side note: In one scene Jaime has a poster of Heavenly Creatures (1994) hanging up on her dorm room wall. Like You Can Live Forever, that film explores an intense emotional bond between two teenage girls. It was an important film for me in my teen years and I appreciated spotting this reference.
You Can Live Forever (2022) is currently available to rent on VOD and is coming to Blu-ray on June 6th from Good Deed Entertainment and Kino Lorber.
