Jourdain Searles

Feb 7, 2025 | thefilmstage.com | Jourdain Searles

In their dark, damp prison quarters, Malina (Tonatiuh) and Valentin (Diego Luna) only have each other for company. Valentin is a radical imprisoned for his revolutionary views; Malina is a window-dresser condemned for homosexual activities. Valetin wants nothing to do with Malina, focusing on his work as his cellmate flutters around their modest room trying to make the best out of a bad situation. To Valentin, Malina is a man who lacks substance and morals, living a life without dignity.

Feb 6, 2025 | thefilmstage.com | Jourdain Searles

It’s always thrilling when a horror film explores the power and possibility of sound. Much modern horror is too quiet, missing the opportunity to create an immersive soundscape that fully transports viewers into its world. Writer-director Bryn Chainey’s debut feature Rabbit Trap tells a wholly immersive horror story, using its soundscape to send viewers through time and space, this world and the next.

Feb 3, 2025 | thefilmstage.com | Jourdain Searles

Early in Michael Shanks’ directorial debut Together, Millie (Alison Brie) warns her boyfriend Tim (Dave Franco) that if they don’t “split up” now, it’s only going to be harder later. She didn’t know how right she was about that. After nearly 10 years together, Millie and Tim are no closer to marriage and kids than they were when they met. When Millie proposes to Tim in front of all their friends, he stands frozen, unable to speak.

Jan 31, 2025 | hollywoodreporter.com | Jourdain Searles

Since her female-led Lord of the Flies riff Ladyworld premiered at Fantasia Fest in 2018, director Amanda Kramer’s films have gotten progressively weirder and more abstract. Her subsequent films Please, Baby, Please and Give Me Pity! were both experimental musicals shot and performed in a vintage style. Please, Baby, Please — the more ambitious of the two — boasted the return of Demi Moore, bringing her into the arthouse and paving the way for her career resurgence as the star of The Substance.

Jan 31, 2025 | thefilmstage.com | Jourdain Searles

Many films, from the classic melodrama Mildred Pierce to last year’s playful dramedy Nightbitch, have tried to depict the unique struggles of motherhood with a focus on the special intimacy of child-rearing. Mothers have long borne the brunt and most of the blame for how their children behave in the world. Fatherhood is considered more optional, and the bar to clear for being good at it is much lower.