If it gets too real, you can always turn it off.

This week I am recommending the latest genre-defying gem from Jane Schoenbrun, a new documentary about Girl Scout Cookie season, the new film from Claire Denis, a restoration of a trailblazing afrofuturist fable, the films of Maite Alberdi, a sci-fi erotic thriller, a documentary about a trailblazing Italian filmmaker, a documentary about doctors on the frontline in Gaza.

On August 20th, THE Angelica Jade Bastién will be joining me for a talkback after the final screening of Olivia Wilde’s THE INVITE!

I saw Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the latest genre-warping tale of identity in the age of IP from auteur Jane Schoenbrun1, at Cannes back in May and have not stopped thinking about it ever since. Taking pieces from films as diverse in tone and intention as Friday The 13th, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and even Billy Wilder’s Sunset Blvd., it can be read as a film about losing yourself in storytelling and finding your way back out, a film about nostalgia as a both a trap and a saving grace, a film about the elusive female orgasm, and even a film about navigating the current dystopia that is the film industry. Here’s a bit from my Cannes dispatch:

At once a queer romance, a love letter to and deconstruction of the slasher genre, and a metatextual screed against Hollywood’s reboot mania (with a truly cringe-worthy Zoom meeting that gave me PTSD from my days working in the industry), this is a crowning achievement for Schoenbrun, who has proven themselves to be one of the smartest and most unique filmmakers working today. There’s also some fun cameos from filmmakers Eva Victor and Louise Weard that made me laugh out loud. Also, I do believe with this film Anderson will be a queer root for possibly a fourth generation of youngsters and you simply love to see it.

The film opens this week on 35mm at the Angelika Film Center in New York City various AMCs in NYC (a few of these will included Q&As moderated by David Ehrlich) and Los Angeles this week, before expanding to more theaters next week, including the Music Box Theatre in here Chicago where it will also screen on 35mm. You can find more playdates here.