Samantha Mitchell’s “RSVP” Incluvie Film Fest Review
“There’s always something you can do…to make people feel like they’re welcome”

The perfect "Granny or Grandpa" poster face is what the photographer from Discra, an adult diaper company, hopes to find as he approaches a retirement home, camera in hand. A quick look at a couple of "nice old folks" and that should be it. But it's just the beginning of the story (or rather stories). While the folks he meets are a bit long in the tooth, they have a lot to say. With Pumpkins and Old Lace, Juliette Loubières joins the classic tradition of puppet animation films, creating a sincere, whimsical fairy tale with a moral that reminds us that old age is sometimes a mask guarding the treasures of our souls.
“There’s always something you can do…to make people feel like they’re welcome”
If I had truly wished to witness "Guardians of the Galaxy", I would have stayed home to do so. Instead, I went to the IMAX and took in this newest incarnation of one of the most recognized and adapted superheroes in the DC Universe. **Sigh** Let me be clear here. I am NOT saying this is an AWFUL film.
Ultimately, Wicked is a story about the cost of being othered, the pain of being misnamed, and the quiet revolution of standing in your truth.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a film that is jarring within the first five minutes. Being at the edge of my seat from the very beginning made me feel both excited and frightened for what was to come, and it did not disappoint. Led strongly by Jennifer Lawrence as Grace, a woman trapped in the “American dream”, this film shows that society tells us what should make us happy. Many critics describe Die My Love as being about post-partem depression, but it is so much more. After moving to a secluded home with her husband Jackson, Grace finds herself in the throes of motherhood. Feeling isolated in her physical environment and her romantic relationship, Grace suffers psychologically. Lawrence brings a sense of rawness and humor to the screen that is often uncomfortable. Robert Pattinson adds to the discomfort as her loving, yet lost husband Jackson, who cares about his wife but does not know how to help her. Lynne Ramsay has presented a film that forces us to look at the realness of life, and what happens when the promise of what should make you whole fails.
It’s not often in America that you turn on the TV and see a show or a movie with a Muslim protagonist. And when they do, they're usually a negative stereotype. Ms. Marvel changes all of that.
Nick Rowland’s She Rides Shotgun is a blistering, blood-soaked road thriller that doubles as a bruised love story between a haunted ex-con (a career-best Taron Egerton) and the daughter he barely knows (astonishing newcomer Ana Sophia Heger). Fueled by white-knuckle chases, razor-tense shootouts, and quiet moments of aching tenderness, the film captures both the terror and fragile beauty of survival. It’s gritty, heartbreaking, and unforgettable—a father-daughter odyssey destined to leave audiences shaken.