ANYTHING THAT MOVES
Filmmaker Alex Phillips (All Jacked Up and Full of Worms) brings another entirely weird and one-of-a-kind film to Fantasia 2025 with ANYTHING THAT MOVES. The film follows Liam and his girlfriend, who are snack delivery sex workers. When their clients end up murdered, two detectives try to pin the gory violence on them.
Don’t get ahead of yourself in viewing. ANYTHING THAT MOVES is far more than a high-concept soft porn. I mean, it is also that. The cast fearlessly embraces full frontal nudity, which is incredibly rare for male actors, but more importantly, it honors kink. Audiences will not expect the hidden trauma. Phillips also addresses the demoralization of sex workers.
Hal Baum is amazing. He exudes confidence, even in the most vulnerable scenarios. My eyes will be on whatever he does next.
Shot in Super 16mm, its gritty look completes the homage to 1970s adult films. The Joshua Rains‘s artwork is diabolically genius. The bright spotlight device that denotes an orgasm is brilliant. Casting Nina Hartley and Ginger Lynn Allen was a superior move, as the two essentially served as the film’s intimacy coordinators. By the way, can we acknowledge the importance of that role on a set? I am thrilled we’re adding a Stunt category to next year’s awards season, but Intimacy Coordination is also an art.
Phillips’ stylistic calling card always sparks conversation when the screen goes black. Will some viewers be offended? Maybe. Will you cringe? Guaranteed. But you’ll all be talking about the film, and that’s the point.
SCREENINGS: ANYTHING THAT MOVES
World Premiere: Fri July 25, 9:30pm, Salle J.A. De Seve
Tue July 29, 11:45am, Salle J.A. De Seve
***
Written and Directed By: Alex Phillips
Introducing: Hal Baum, Jeremy Everett, Andrea Huber, Maxton Koc, Jiana Nicole, Jade Perry and Cooper Whittlesey
Featuring: Ginger Lynn Allen, Trevor Dawkins, Jack Dunphy, Paul Gordon, Nina Hartley and Frank V. Ross
Music By: Cue Shop
Edited By: Alex Phillips and Troy Lewis
Cinematography By: Hunter Zimny
Produced By: Georgia Bernstein, Liane Cunje and Spencer Parsons
Executive Produced By: Joe Rubin, Ryan Emerson, Ralph Stevens, Ian Stone, Eddie Linker, Stephen Lanus and Amar Gupta
Liz Atwater deserves applause for her role, but for the sake of the journey, I won’t say anything more. Todd Terry gives Clive a notable balance of paranoia and fear. It has a solid 10 Cloverfield vibe, with Terry playing the John Goodman role, a would-be savior with perhaps ulterior motives. The audience goes on a rollercoaster of emotions with Terry.
Production design is incredibly detailed inside the trailer. The soundtrack is fantastic. Handheld camerawork from Andrew Duensing is thrilling. It is Bodell’s script that holds you captive. Lena’s relationship with grief becomes an unexpected emotional stronghold. Genre aside, the film comes from a place of transformation and new beginnings.
After a bus ride on her way out of town gets cut short by a sighting of her local crush, Cleo’s infatuation becomes a way of life that maybe isn’t what she intended. Her mother, Lady Andre, comes looking for her and mistakes a passing moment for the end of her legacy.
Jessica Paré delivers a vivacious performance as Lady Andre. She is eccentric and demanding, but is undoubtedly battling unresolved wounds. Skylar Radzion is Josephine, the hairless sibling in the bearded family. She is a spitfire and a slick foil for Cleo.
The jury is exceptional as they move through measured recall to furious shouting matches. Their diligence in tracking down evidence and looking at all sides gives me hope that jurors take their duties seriously. Jack Thornton’s editing is a feat. The choice to keep Krieps in the frame for longer than seems normal has a chilling effect. RE-CREATION is akin to live theatre. It is an improvisation session strapped to a ticking time bomb. The audience is the 13th jury member. Sheridan provides newsreel footage, newspaper clippings, video testimony, and audio recordings at the precise times we might feel lost. It is a real-time exploration of possibilities. 
Jim Sheridan also plays Juror #1, serving as a guide and sounding board. Sheridan’s attention to detail is award-worthy. Going as far as to take the jury on a tour of the key locations in the investigation. It’s hard to discern where Sheridan lies on the guilty spectrum personally. His extensive knowledge never feels coercive. He and Merriman skillfully make a case for confusion and conflict, mirroring the state of the evidence.
José Condessa creates a vibrant and charming character. He is sensitive and caring, everything a woman desires in a man. Condessa is dazzling. Ayden Mayeri gives June a true egocentric millennial with an unresolved emotional trauma vibe, which is precisely what Lilian T. Mehrel intended. Mayeri effortlessly glides into June’s arc. Amira Casar takes on Lela with a lived-in authenticity and passion. She holds each frame with her powerful presence. These two women share gorgeous chemistry. 
Filmmakers Kasper Bisgaard and Mikael Lypinski bring Tribeca 2025 audiences documentary, THE END OF QUIET, a thought-provoking exploration of human connectivity. In an isolated town in West Virginia, the world’s largest radio telescope can pick up the murmurings of signals across the universe. To achieve this, the telescope resides in the Quiet Zone, the only place in the U.S. where Wi-Fi and cell phone signals are not permitted.
How do they fight the boredom? Brionna and her gun enthusiast grandfather, David, spend time together shooting his 37 guns and rifles and blowing things up. Choosing to reside in The Quiet Zone due to electromagnetic hypersensitivity, Clover and her dog, Beautiful, live for landline phone calls from her husband, who lives abroad. Her original poetry also serves as beautiful transition audio. A lonely but contented elderly vet named Willard spends his days drinking a lot of coffee and attending local funerals. Kirsten, 17, and Frankie, 23, are a young, engaged couple who dream of having a child. 
THE FILM IS SUPPORTED BY
Defying all the odds and the lawyers’ advice, Fernando gathers a local Quechua cast, including little Dylan as young Simba, creating a dazzling version of the beloved tale in his studio. The result is a triumph.
Directed by: Steven Feinartz
Director: Oscar Boyson
While waiting at the airport for her husband, Aya (Sarah Adler) is mistaken for someone else. Intrigued, she decides to pick up a complete stranger (Ulrich Thomsen) on a whim. Their encounter sparks an unexpected intimacy that unsettles Aya’s sense of certainty and awakens a yearning she neither fully understands nor knows how to fulfill. Her quiet search for meaning unfolds in a hotel room, a customer service chat and in subtle disruptions to her daily routine, as we are taken through a woman’s delicate and honest search for something meaningful.
Directed by: Rick Gomez
Director: Karam Gill 
Director: Amy Scott
Civil Rights Attorney for the Institute for Justice, Marie Miller, breaks down the law surrounding the retaliation for Angeli speaking out about her experience. Angeli was pulled over on trumped-up charges, threatened, and stalked by police.
Meanwhile, out of the blue, Angeli is sent to a correctional facility 7 hours away from Uvalde for allegedly violating her parole. While there are zero consequences for the failed police, Angeli is served with an injustice the audience will feel in their bones.
For all things SXSW, 
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Vaughn Armstrong delivers a nuanced turn as Robert. Max allows him the opportunity to play multiple roles within one character. Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) and Colby Minifie (The Boys) knock it out of the park. Their loaded dialogue gets more and more biting and honest. Their scenes are a masterclass in communication. Whether driven by confession or fear, Burton and Minifie are perfect together. 
BROTHER VERSES BROTHER comes from director Ari Gold. (The Song of Sway Lake) This hybrid bonanza of music, storytelling, and familial exploration of Ari and Ethan Gold in their search for their father, Herbert Gold, is perfect for the SXSW 2025 audience. 
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