IFFBoston Brought Forth Some Noteworthy Surprises This Year

The IFFBoston is always a great place for me to catch up with titles I may have missed at Sundance, SXSW and Toronto. A film festival that celebrates the art of Independent cinema, especially from the United States, the five-day fest takes place in three locations, The Brattle Theatre at Harvard Square, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline and the Somerville Theatre. Hosting a combined 100+ films each year, this makes it the largest film festival in New England.

And so, despite my having seen most of the buzz-worthy IFFBoston titles that were screened (“The Farewell,” “Luce,” “Cold Case Hammerskjold”), there were still a few discoveries to be made that are very much worth mentioning.

Annabelle Attanasio’s “Mickey and the Bear” won the Grand Jury Prize. A SXSW-premiered title, this feature-length directorial debut, about a strong-willed teenage girl (Camila Morrone) navigating a loving but incredibly intense relationship with her veteran father, was the kind of gritty, American-infused realism that is sorely missed these days in American cinema. At its finest, it was carried through by a phenomenal star-making performance from Camila Morrone, a star-actress-in-the waiting, if there ever was one these days.

Another film powered by a mesmerizing performance from a young up-and-comer was found in “Wild Rose,” a Scottish-infused ‘Star is Born’ with a blue-collar tinge added for grit. Directed by Tom Harper, the film tells the story of Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley), a Scottish womanwho happens to love country music; so much so, that she intends to find enough money to go to Nashville and become a star. It doesn’t help that she must also grapple with having just been released from jail (for a minor crime) and is the young mother of two children. Harper tries to build up his clichéd underdog story into something fresh and incisive. The tropes are all still there, but with the help of Buckley’s passionate performance, “Wild Rose” works because it never forgets that, sometimes, life can complicate dreams.

Peter Strickland doesn’t adhere to cinematic conventions. His films (especially “The Duke of Burgundy”) can easily isolate the viewer into submission, despite critics all but embracing his works. “In Fabric” is Strickland’s attempt at tackling the horror genre. Of course, this isn’t your typical ghost story, at every turn the film tries to subvert our expectations, to the point where we have absolutely no idea what to expect next. This surreal dive into the unknown has a creepy department store selling a cursed killer dress to a woman (Marianne Jean-Baptise), which ends up being passed on from person to person, with devastating consequences. The film can sometimes feel like a one-note joke stretched into 118 minutes, but there are also indelible moments of sheer terror, especially when Strickland deals with body-horror .

Directed by Riley Stearns, whose underrated 2015 debut “Faults” deserves to be seen by a larger audience, “The Art of Self-Defense” was the best movie I saw at the IFFBoston this year. Casey, a shy bookeeper (played by Jesse Eisenberg), is attacked on the street one night by a masked motorcycle gang, which provokes him to join the local neighborhood karate studio to learn how to protect himself. However, the charismatic Sensei (a darkly hilarious Alessandro Nivola), and his lethal, brown-belt sidekick Anna (the always wonderful Imogen Poots) have secrets that are slowly, but meticulously revealed to us when Casey gets promoted to the mysterious “night classes” at the studio. Yes, Casey’s confidence in himself grows, but he also discovers a ruthlessly bloody world of hyper-masculinity. This is an incredibly audacious movie, which mixes the darkest of comedy with the most grisly of violence. “The Art of Self-Defense” is a true original that aims to tackle the deepest pits of toxic masculinity, almost to absurd extremes. It’s also a much-welcomed comeback for Jesse Eisenberg, who takes on a role that fits his cinematic demeanor quite perfectly.