We're back once again for the 45th(!) Annual Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival where film fans and filmmakers congregate near the banks of the Mississippi River just outside of Downtown Minneapolis for 200+ films from all over the world. MSPIFF is something I've enjoyed parts of for decades now, but has truly become a cornerstone of my movie calendar since they've generously been granting me press credentials for the past few years. For me, it's a chance to catch things that I've heard about from other festivals or experience films more outside my usual focus. Most importantly the MSP Film Society has managed to capture that alchemy of venue, programming, and people that make a film festival more than a mere marathon of movie watching.
Day One
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story (2026) - A new documentary covering the life and career of Maria Bamford with a particular focus on her struggles and experiences with mental health issues. Directors Neil Berkeley's and Judd Apatow's film provides the perfect introduction to Maria's comedy for the uninitiated while remaining surprisingly revelatory for long time fans. Despite Bamford's Minnesota origins, I think I (like many others) discovered her through another documentary, The Comedians of Comedy, twenty years ago. I was already familiar with her CoC fellows Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn, but came away from that film thinking Bamford was the funniest comic featured (thought those early Zach Galifianakis bits are priceless). Not long after, I devoured her early YouTube show, her albums, and even managed to see her at Acme Comedy when she could have arguably been selling out larger theaters. It was her surreal, theatrical approach to stand-up that initially won me over but her work also always contained a fearless element of autobiographical confession; whether that was her brilliant impressions of family members or her startlingly frank material about mental health. All that is to say, I thought I knew Bamford's narrative fairly well. Berkekley's and Apatow's documentary is very conventional in its form of talking heads, archival footage, and following Bamford around with a camera crew. Still, Hope does an admirable job of organizing Bamford's life into cohesive chapters while always interweaving her comedy into a story that touches upon depression, eating disorders, suicide, OCD, death, and even the California wildfires. There's a degree of emotional whiplash to the film and it isn't afraid to delve into darker or even negative elements around Bamford's work, but because the focus is so strongly on her the result is intensely funny and humane. As a longtime fan, I think my favorite bits were towards the end of the film where Berkeley was explaining some of Bamford's highly unconventional professional practices (one on one comedy sets with strangers, 8am matinees to families) to the complete astonishment of her peers. It's testament to Bamford's singular persona to have been so honest and open for so many years and still be able to surprise and delight even your closest colleagues.
4/5 Stars
This was followed up with a Q&A with Berkeley, Bamford, and her sister Sarah (who formerly cut the dead up into chunks). They were all extremely gracious and enthusiastic to present to a Minnesota audience (describing Duluth as a "Freshwater Monaco" got a huge laugh) and Bamford was effortlessly hilarious.
Day Two
The Christophers (2025) - A deft two-hander from the steadily prolific Steven Soderbergh starring Ian McKellen as a once notable artist in decline (Julian Sklar) and Michaela Coel (Lori) as an artist hired by Sklar's children to masquerade as his assistant while "completing" some unfinished works from his most acclaimed period. Christophers is a beautifully performed film with a fascinating see-saw between Sklar's unrelenting onslaught of frequently funny diatribes and Lori's densely layered series of expressions that slowly gives way to her filling up more of their shared space as their personal dynamic shifts. It's also exquisitely photographed using almost entirely handheld shots for the cavernous interiors of Sklar's decaying side-by-side townhomes while the exteriors are filmed more traditionally. There's a quasi cat-and-mouse game around the identities of the two and how they relate to each other, but really it's more about understanding what it is, exactly, that they want out of their bizarre partnership. Visually, Soderbergh employs a recurring motif around climbing or descending stairways or crossing thresholds that elegantly, if not explicitly, illustrates Lori and Sklar trying to sort out where their mutual trust begins and ends between them. It's a clever film but not one that ever spoke to me deeply and finishes somewhat mutely. Soderbergh has been in the media most recently, and unfortunately, due to his apparent enthusiasm for using generative AI in some of his upcoming projects. Knowing that, it's hard for me to not read some of that subtext in this film about the sometimes derivative nature or questionable authorship of art.
3.5/5 Stars
Normal (2025) - Another film in Bob Odenkirk's streak as a hyper-violent comedy/action star, but this time from English director Ben Wheatley who has made boldly stylish (if not always successful) forays into films as diverse as A Field in England and Meg 2. My introduction to Normal was an early trailer featuring (in voiceover) one of the most absurdly exaggerated Minnesota accents this side of Fargo which didn't bode well for a watchable film. Fortunately subsequent trailers dispensed with the voiceovers and there's little overt attempt by the actors to approximate anything other than a vaguely midwestern tone to their speech. Odenkirk stars as Ulysses, an "interim" sheriff serving the titular town that really could be anywhere in the US that's both rural and snowy. Ulysses has taken this role leaving a disgruntled wife and some kind of unpleasantness behind and initially finds the small town rather charming despite some early indications that not all is as it seems. Mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Normal's previous sheriff as well as an ill-conceived bank robbery serve to uncover the town's secret and Normal wastes no time in becoming a ferociously brutal, nearly non-stop series of shootouts and brawls between Ulysses, a few choice allies, and the rest of the town. Wheatley (unsurprisingly) allows the violence to go straight over the top and illustrates early on that no character is safe from an uncompromisingly savage demise. This serves the film both by employing wildly inventive gags (so much eye trauma) as well as the comedy in a deeply nihilistic splat-stick fashion. Odenkirk seems completely at home in this register and he has some solid support from the likes of Lena Headey and Henry Winkler but the plot and any attempt at characterization feels tertiary to the onscreen mayhem. In fact, the attempts to fill in Ulysses' backstory feel like unwanted intrusions on the otherwise raucous parade of innovative carnage. Ultimately, the humor and gore were executed well enough to win me over and I did not struggle to shut my brain off and enjoy Normal for what it does best.
3.5/5 Stars
Day Three
Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026) - My Wife and I headed over to The Edina Cinema (returning as a satellite venue this MSPIFF) to catch this Scottish documentary that I'd heard about coming out of Sundance. Kenmure Street documents a day in Glasgow when the UK Home Office detained two immigrant men and the community turned up to resist and prevent them from leaving. Specifically, an activist referred to as "Van Man" crawled underneath the immigration enforcement van where the two men were being held and clung to the axle so that they could not drive away. This direct action stalled the immigration raid and allowed for more community members to surround them resulting in a tense standoff between the neighborhood and law enforcement. It's an interestingly constructed film that does a fine job providing historical context to both the story of immigration and resistance movements in Glasgow and how that relates to what took place on Kenmure Street that day. The archival footage is broken up with interviews with several of the witnesses and participants of the protest though the testimony of Van Man and an anonymous nurse who was on the scene are recreated by Emma Thompson and Kate Dickie. There's clear parallels between the events detailed in Kenmure Street and the brutal wave of federal occupation here in Minnesota and the director, in his introduction to the film, mentioned that they felt they were making this documentary for Minneapolis. This was an emotional watch for me even though the film's narrative is ultimately about community resistance overcoming state sponsored tyranny. It's hard not to think about how similar circumstances had drastically different (and lethal) results locally. I suppose it speaks to my American perspective that I found myself repeatedly wondering why they police weren't gassing or firing rubber bullets into the protesters, but my understanding is that the relative restraint demonstrated by law enforcement that day is somewhat of an anomaly. I just can't imagine a situation where ICE or MPD would similarly choose to de-escalate where they can employ significant levels of violence against the public with near-immunity. Having said that, Kenmure Street makes a clear argument against the kind of stupidity and cruelty that fuels things like Home Office dawn raids and a rousing document of community solidarity and resistance in the face of oppression. Sadly, I could not stay for the Q&A but did get a glimpse of the Van Man himself as I sprinted to the bus stop.
4/5 Stars
The first MSPIFF showing of Kenmure Street was on the opening night and I understand from attendees that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey introduced the film. Locals know that despite swearing in front of television cameras and going on a press tour, Frey was virtually absent on the streets of Minneapolis during the worst of Metro Surge. The resistance to ICE and the incredibly robust networks of mutual aid were grassroots operations that happened in spite of the fecklessness of many elected officials and local law enforcement. There are a huge number of individuals that enabled these movements and any one of them would have been a better choice than Frey to open the film.
Uncle Roy (2026) - Apparently Friday nights are for shedding tears and Keri Pickett's touching portrait of her uncle, Roy Blakey, had the whole theater choking up by the time the credits rolled. Blakey lived through wild and wide-ranging experiences starting as a performer in a world-traveling ice show during the 50s and 60s before moving on to a successful career as a headshot photographer in 1970s NYC. Also during that time, Blakey took and published astonishingly composed and highly influential male nudes making him one of the pioneers of gay photography. These two thematic drivers of Blakey's life, ice skating and the nudes, would make for a compelling story on their own and that narrative is supported by a truly incredible personal archive of photos and home movies that Blakey meticulously kept. However, Pickett also weaves in the final chapter of Blakey's life where (in his 90s) his cognitive function and health begin to decline precipitously while he is still looking for somewhere to house his vast collection of both photos and ice show memorabilia. The result is an intimate and unflinching look at the last stages of life and what it means to love and care for someone moving through this phase of their journey. Honestly, I skimmed by Uncle Roy in the initial program guide because I wasn't that interested in ice skating. To my delight, the ice show elements are actually quite immersive thanks to all of the archival footage Blakey's irrepressible good nature and impish sense of humor. The additional material about NYC, the 70s gay scene, and a wonderful collection of interviews with dancers and models who all posed for Ray further underscores how he touched so many lives of the people he came into contact with. I was especially taken with a sequence focused on the University of Minnesota Tretter Collection which is the largest LGTBQ archive in the Midwest and now the home of all of Blakey's materials, both skating and non-skating related. I have no idea what kind of distribution Uncle Roy will receive but it's one to look out for or, at the very least, look Blakey and his work up for yourself.
4/5 Stars
Carolina Caroline (2025) - I've been looking forward to Adam Rehmeier's lovers-on-the-lam film since hearing positive things out of TIFF last year and also because it's one of the few crime movies I get to see in the festival lineup. Kyle Gallner stars as a drifter and con-man (Oliver) who picks up Samara Weaving's Caroline after she catches him in a change scam at the gas station she works at. The two have an instant and electric connection and share troubled family histories involving feelings of abandonment. Caroline is quickly swayed by the heat of their relationship, Oliver's anarchic personal philosophy, and (perhaps most importantly) the opportunity to get out of Texas. The pair make good partners both romantically and criminally, moving rapidly from department store scams to a series of bank robberies across the Southern US. As the stakes increase, things inevitably go sideways resulting in violence Caroline didn't sign up for and disillusionment in the outlaw lifestyle. There's a lot that's easy for me to like about Carolina Caroline; besides their good looks both leads give solid performances and their on-screen chemistry is evident. Rehmeier set Caroline in the 90s and elected to shoot some tremendous authentic locations in a warm, analog style that matches the period while speaking to some previous classics in the genre. The scams and heists are intriguingly constructed and have some legitimate tension to them. What Oliver and Caroline lack in studied professionalism they make up for with instinct and guts and it's very believable. Thematically, I'm not sure things hang together quite as well. Oliver's early pitch to Caroline is that ripping off larger chain stores or banks is essentially victimless because any losses would barely render a blip on their yearly financials. Shortly thereafter the two pull a Grifters style scam on an unsuspecting businessman where they drain his bank account for thousands of dollars. Maybe he's supposed to be rich enough to eat the loss, but he certainly seems like a victim in the context of the film. The more interesting angle in Oliver's credo is that free will is an illusion and everyone is the product of millions of influences and impulses that drive their decisions from moment to moment. He and Caroline act as though they're on the outside of this agency-free continuum until the last act of the film when the consequences of their actions finally fold in around them. Oliver's resignation to their shared fate comes suddenly and completely and it's clear it was never going to end any other way.
3.5/5 Stars
Day Four
Personal obligations prevented me from attending the fest on this day. I still managed to have a good time.
Day Five
Dean Cundey in Conversation - MSPIFF has been getting some tremendous guests over the last few years for their "industry night" and tribute to founder, Al Milgrom. This year was none other than the legendary cinematographer, Dean Cundey. These are lightly moderated chats and Cundey was gracious with his time and anecdotes covering everything from the Roger Corman days to his collaborations with John Carpenter to his many innovative, effects driven blockbuster efforts. These days, I'm generally more curious about the old drive-in programmers than the Hollywood pictures but I wasn't surprised that his talk dwelled more on Jurassic Park or Who Framed Roger Rabbit than it did on The Witch Who Came from the Sea or Black Shampoo. It was a fun talk, Cundey is funny in a grandfatherly way and the folks in attendance were clearly very excited to have him.
Late Fame (2025) - An adaptation of the posthumously published novella from playwright Arthur Schnitzler by director Kent Jones and writer Samy Burch starring Willem Dafoe as a postal worker whose decades-old book of poetry is "discovered" by a group of energetic young writers. Jones and Burch transport Schnitlzer's narrative from 19th Century Vienna to modern day New York rendering the film a statement not just on the nostalgia around the aspirations of young artists but also a remembrance of a bygone era in the city. Ed Saxberger (Dafoe) remains largely gracious and grounded when approached by Meyers (Edmund Donovan) and his quasi-salon that refer to themselves as the Enthusiasm Society, but he does begin to get seduced by the possibility of re-establishing his artistic notoriety even in a small way. One key element to this seduction is Gloria (Greta Lee) an actor who is no less obsessed with construction an affected artistic persona than the rest of the Society but has different financial realities than her wealthy and affluent fellows. While there's nothing overtly romantic about Gloria and Ed, they do fascinate each other and some of the more profound and melancholy moments occur between them. At one point Gloria looks at Ed and tells him "you must have been so beautiful when you were young" and, of course, we know he was but that person and that time are in the past now. I'm a sucker for NYC movies and movies about artists and Late Fame is exactly the kind of film I tend to be won over by, but I think it really does handle themes around youthful ambition and the comfortable resignation that sometimes comes with age without ever becoming maudlin or overly sentimental. Dafoe and Lee are impeccable and the younger actors who make up the Society are frequently hilariously cringe inducing. The film is bursting with good location work and the music from Don Fleming seems to lightly reference his own 80s music as well as his collaborations with Sonic Youth and Thurston Moore.
4/5 Stars
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