Category: Festivals

Watching Arrest the Midwife felt less like being swept into a dramatic crusade and more like being dropped into a complex situation that’s been developing for years. Director Elaine Epstein presents a case that’s emotional, yes, but also complicated — legally, culturally, and personally. The documentary follows three certified professional midwives in upstate New York… Continue reading Arrest the Midwife: stylistically steady and reflective

Due West doesn’t shock or reinvent anything, but it genuinely captures what it’s like to live somewhere with few options and serious consequences. Watching it at the Round Top Film Festival, surrounded by a community that truly understands rural Texas, gave the film an extra boost. Adrianne Palicki anchors the story as an unnamed woman… Continue reading Round Top Film Festival – Due West: imperfect, yes, but grounded and relevant

I caught Cottonmouth at this year’s Round Top Film Festival, and it left me both unsettled and impressed—a gritty Western thriller that doesn’t pull its punches. Directed by Brock Harris, the film is steeped in dust, betrayal, and retribution, a modern take on the old frontier morality tale. It’s not an easy watch—bleak, violent, and… Continue reading Round Top Film Festival 2025 – Cottonmouth: a gritty Western thriller that doesn’t pull its punches

There’s something both comforting and quietly disarming about a film that tackles the idea of “family” without sentimentality or moral lessons. Adult Children, which opened the Round Top Film Festival 2025, does exactly that. Written by Annika Marks and directed by her husband, Rich Newey, the film finds humor and heartbreak in equal measure as… Continue reading Round Top Film Festival 2025 – Adult Children: set the tone for a weekend that celebrated heartfelt storytelling

A Look at the 8 Dramas I had initially planned to catch all the festival shorts, but due to timing and a last-minute decision, I chose the drama block. Eight films later, I learned something about myself: I can sit more easily through a two-hour feature than through eight short ones in a row —… Continue reading Round Top Film Festival 2025 – Short Drama Showcase

Having watched Christy at its opening-night screening at the Austin Film Festival (with writer-directors David Michôd and Mirrah Foulkes in attendance, alongside the real-life Christy Martin), I walked away both exhilarated and deeply moved. The film stakes its claim not just as a sports biopic but as a profound meditation on identity, power, and survival.… Continue reading AFF 2025 – Christy: a profound meditation on identity, power, and survival.