OUT FOR DELIVERY
Joanna finds out that chemo is no longer working. Her doctor offers her a Death With Dignity option. They can mail her medication to end her life, but she must make arrangements for her body to be picked up. When the package gets delayed, all her plans go haywire.
Death and comedy don’t usually go hand-in-hand, but somehow, OUT FOR DELIVERY manages to be equal parts dark and light. Over sixteen minutes, filmmaker Chelsea Christer delves into existential ideas, regret, and childhood trauma. It is a weirdly touching slice of human connection. Deanna Rooney and Martin Starr are spectacular. They share an easy chemistry, highlighted brilliantly during the film’s final comedic moments. OUT FOR DELIVERY is an oddly cathartic honoring of life’s choices, sure to make you smile and perhaps encourage you to take a beat to smell the roses. It is a memorable addition to this year’s lineup.
Chelsea Christer
Chelsea Christer began her filmmaking career in San Francisco. Her work centers on character-driven stories, often exploring themes of identity, ambition, and human connection. Her feature-length debut, award-winning music documentary “Bleeding Audio”, was released to critical acclaim. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their dog, Sagan.
OUT FOR DELIVERY Credits
Director: |
Chelsea Christer |
|---|---|
Executive Producer: |
Toni Trucks, Clinton Trucks |
Producer: |
Clinton Trucks, Alexa Rocero, David B. Lyons |
Screenwriter: |
Chelsea Christer |
Cinematographer: |
Gavin Velasquez Murray |
Editor: |
Chelsea Christer |
Production Designer: |
Linda Dahlem |
Sound Designer: |
Ben Hicks |
Music: |
Matthew Taylor |
Principal Cast: |
Deanna Rooney, Martin Starr, DeMorge Brown, John Ross Bowie, Dana Swanson, Cory Shanbom, Ele Woods, Brian David Gilbert |
Additional Credits: |
1st AD: Cory Shanbom, Production Assistant: Aurora Zenith, 1st AC: Sean Delahunt, Sound Mixer: Jose Castro, Colorist: Ayumi Ashley, VFX Supervisor: Danny Shepherd, Key Grip/Gaffer: Lance Gegner, Gaffer: Ben Thatcher, Grip: Zach Domingo, Grip: Steve Forbes |
Credits
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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SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON
Director Reema Kagti brings TIFF ’24 audiences a dramatized version of the 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon. The film begins in 1997 and follows aspiring amateur filmmaker Nasir Shaikh and fellow hometown artists in Malegaon, India. SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON is a story of small-town dreams coming true. Get ready to feel all the feels.
KNOW ME
In 2012, Rudy Eugene became known as “The Miami Zombie” when he attacked a homeless man because of bath salts. Inspired by the real-life incident, filmmaker Edson Jean‘s film KNOW ME dramatizes the case, bringing much-needed humanity to a story most of us think we know.
Jean utilizes black-and-white flashbacks to give us insight into who Jimmy was. The specific choice not to replay the video from the incident leaves a powerfully subconscious impact. The commentary on the media is as relevant today as ever. How does one man preserve the legacy raging against an entire industry? Separately, we watch family matriarch Pauline’s nuance journey to closure. A poignant moment between her and the man Jimmy attacked delivers a quiet beauty.
Tackling religion, judgment, and racism, KNOW ME is a meditation on grief. The script calls out hypocrisy and digs into underlying hurt within a trauma response. It is an undeniably strong sophomore feature.
Filmmaker Cory Santilli brings a film like no other to Slamdance 2025 with IN THE MOUTH. The script follows Merl, a housebound man down on his luck financially and mentally. When his landlady arrives to collect three months’ back rent, Merl decides to take on a roommate. Larry happens to be an escaped murderer, but that is not what scares Merl. It is the giant version of himself protruding from his front lawn. 
IN THE MOUTH is an absurdist comedy. Shot in stark black and white by Mike Magilnick, the cinematography boasts great closeups and one particularly memorable off-kilter angle that made me sit up straighter. Merl’s creative outside retrieval methods remind me of individual components of Pee Wee Herman‘s Rube Goldberg machine in his Big Adventure film. 
Colin Burgess, who also stars in another Slamdance 2025 film, 
THE BUILDOUT
Cameron and Dylan are not the first to set foot on the land. Timelines cross. The two friends document what they find on a camcorder. In the isolation, they discover more questions than answers, and the viewer travels down a rabbit hole of unnerving chaos.
Jenna Kanell gives Cameron a feisty edge that reminds me of Robin Tunney in Empire Records, appearance and all. There is a visible aversion to the hyper-religious nature that Dylan openly expresses. Hannah Alline (
The audience holds its collective breath with only drips of information at any given time. The eclectic camera work by Justin Moore is jarring in the best way possible, delivering a continuously menacing vibe. (Don’t think I missed your EP credit, 
Eric McGinty‘s STOCKADE follows Ahlam, a Lebanese woman trying to get her artist’s visa extended in NYC. To pay her lawyer, she agrees to deliver a package upstate. 
Halfway through the story goes in an entirely bizarre direction when Richard doesn’t show up, Paul isn’t answering the phone, and two strangers appear in the house demanding the contents of the package. Suddenly, easy money is not so easy after all.
While the rest of the cast is mediocre at best, Sarah Bitar is spectacular. She has a commanding presence about her. Ahlam holds unspoken trauma and guilt from leaving her family in Beruit. Bitar holds you captive with her fierce energy. She is the reason to watch this film.
Čejen Černić Čanak profound Berlinale drama SANDBAG DAM follows Marko, an athletic young man navigating his younger brother, school, sports, and girlfriend, Petra. His life upends when Slaven returns home for his father’s funeral. With the threat of flooding in his small Croatian village, his long-lost feelings for Slaven threaten everything.
Marko exists in a traditionally masculine environment. His father is a mechanic, training him to take over the business and compete in an upcoming arm wrestling competition. His free time consists of drinking at parties and attending to his eager-to-please girlfriend. Then, his seemingly easy life suddenly halts when Slaven returns after three years and no goodbye.
The story slowly reveals itself with an innocent bitterness and longing. If you go into the film blind, nothing is spoonfed to the audience. It is beautifully paced. The homophobia in Sandbag Dam is excruciating. The weaponization of hurt and ignorance is devastating.
The performances are spectacular. Leon Grgić is endearing as younger brother Fićo. He has a genuine star quality. His purity will make your heartache. Andrija Žunac gives Slaven an authenticity that is calming. His unapologetic aura is sensational. Lav Novosel delivers a pitch-perfect turn as Marko. Torn between the life he yearns for and the one he feels forced to accept, Novosel brings us on an emotional roller coaster we have no control over. You feel the conflict in your soul.
The film has a similar energy to Brokeback Mountain. Its restrained tension is waiting to burst at any moment. There is no denying the double entendre of the title. As the floodwaters rise, so do the tensions of secrets and feelings. Screenwriter Tomislav Zajec provides stunning metaphors. SANDBAG DAM is an important story. It is one that so many LGBTQ youth must endure. The final moments will have you talking about this film long after the credits roll.
Gal’s character has a Mary Poppins quality in creating magic for her kids. “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun!” The unrelenting motivation she provides for Rhianna and Benin puts most parents to shame. Gal’s palpable anxiety appears in moments when the kids are distracted and engaged in an activity. She does her best to guard them from reality and fear.
Our two small leads, Rihanna Barbosa and Benin Ayo have a chemistry a director dies for. Their playful nature and natural talent are infectious. They are stars. 
An hour into the film, your heart drops. The conversation that follows should almost come with a trigger warning for survivors. Filled with gaslighting and classic abuser language, it will infuriate and break you. THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD captures invisible labor, unconditional love, cycles of abuse, and the determination to create a better life. It is a difficult but rewarding viewing experience and female-centric storytelling at its best.
The Virgin of The Quarry Lake
Jealousy collides with superstition in Laura Casabé‘s coming-of-age Sundance 2025 film The Virgin of The Quarry Lake. Natalia lives with her grandmother, Rita, after being abandoned by her parents. The summer after high school graduation is a time of angst, curiosity, fear, and desire. Intimated by a worldly older woman named Silvia, Nati and her two best friends become deeply entrenched in a battle to keep her crush, Diego, from her clutches. 
Although set in 2001 Argentina, the film’s narrative parallels today’s political climate with startling accuracy. The government is a disaster. There are rolling blackouts, civil unrest, and the popular television personality peddles misinformation. Nati witnesses violence again and again. Her envy of Silvia and sexual frustration push her to her limits. The repeated and infuriating misogyny she endures results in a bloody act of pushback. Nati unleashes an alarming feminine rage. 
Based on the stories of Mariana Enriquez, screenwriter Benjamin Naishat creates something quite magic. The Virgin of The Quarry Lake also delivers a visceral sense memory of young love. Nati receives a heartbreaking phone call from Silvia. I received a shockingly similar call the summer of my Senior year, and it destroyed me in a way that I still remember at almost 45 years old. You will hurt for her. It is vicious. Dolores Oliverio owns the role of Natalia. She is an undeniable star. 
The dynamic between 17-year-old Azi and her best friend’s father’s new girlfriend moves from passive-aggressive to outright challenge. You can cut the tension with a knife. Mann delivers enough longing looks between Wool and Goodjohn to wager guesses about each woman’s motivation. You’re dying to know what happens next once the screen goes black.
Thankfully, a feature-length version of AZI is already in the works. Sundance 2025 audiences are in for one hell of a tease. These are guaranteed seats in butts whenever production is complete. Count me very much in.
Addison Heimann is a queer genre filmmaker currently residing in Los Angeles. His first feature, Hypochondriac, premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival and was distributed by XYZ Films. His goal is to tell queer stories that explore mental health in the genre space.
Evan Twohy was raised on Hitchcock and opera on the edge of a forest outside Berkeley, California. From an early age, he found himself drawn to absurdist theater and began writing plays in New York City prior to making his first feature, Bubble & Squeak.
Footage from those rescued from collapsed buildings, unimaginable loss, children caught in a tornado of violence, every film is immersive and visceral. The bravery and passion of the filmmakers are on full display. The viewing experience is heavy, inspiring, and vital, particularly for those who believe we should stop funding humanitarian efforts abroad. Amongst turmoil on American soil, we should thank our lucky stars for the privilege of honoring the ongoing courage, compassion, and unity of the Gazan people. FROM GROUND ZERO is a must-watch. 
For more DWF coverage, 
THE SHADE
Laura Benanti plays the family matriarch, Renee. She adds authentic warmth to every role. Even if her scenes are few and far between, she steals every single one. Dylan McTee plays the eldest brother, Jason. He exudes hurt with an overly aggressive demeanor that perfectly suits the role. 
There are a few particularly memorable shots by cinematographer Tom Fitzgerald. Heather Benson and the makeup department give us startling work. They deserve all the applause. 
What gets the pulse-pounding is undeniably well done. Chipman and cowriter David Purdy use dreams as a gateway to terror. Perry Blackshear‘s 
HIPPO
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