IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU – ★★★★☆

Wow! What a way to kick off (sorry) MIFF 2025! After last year’s Memoir of a Snail, I felt like we’d reached peak opening night for MIFF, especially given some of the previous picks. It’s wonderful to have another film that blew me away. To some extent, the less you know going into this the better, but I will say that the acting across the board was excellent, the visuals were great, and the ability to create tension was spot on, without overplaying any. The story is about a mother (Rose Byrne) who is trying to hold everything together; managing the repairs to their family’s apartment, taking care of a sick child, and doing her full time work. It’s taking its toll, and she’s beginning to fall apart. I loved the way it portrayed mental health issues. It would pair well with another favourite film of mine in the past few years (ignore the poor ratings): Alison Brie’s Horse Girl.

MIFF is back for another year. Hard to believe I’ve been doing this since 2005. Time flies… This is the list of films that caught my interest this year. I won’t be able to see them all, but if I had more time, this is what I’d try to watch:

• APRIL
• BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND, THE
• BALTIMORONS, THE
• BIRTHRIGHT
• BLACK OX
• BLUE MOON
• BLUE TRAIL, THE
• BRAND NEW LANDSCAPE
• BUT ALSO JOHN CLARKE
• CARELESS
• CLOUD
• DEAF
• DJ AHMET
• DREAMS (SEX, LOVE, DREAMS TRILOGY)
• FAMILIAR TOUCH
• FOLKTALES
• FWENDS
• GREETINGS FROM MARS
• HAPPYEND
• HEADS OR TAILS?
• IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
• IMAGINE
• IT ENDS
• I SAW A KING
• JOHN LILLY AND THE EARTH COINCIDENCE CONTROL OFFICE
• KYUKA: BEFORE SUMMER’S END
• LATE SHIFT
• LEGEND OF OCHI, THE
• LEFT-HANDED GIRL
• LIBRARIANS, THE
• LOST CHAPTERS
• LOVE (SEX, LOVE, DREAMS TRILOGY)
• LOVE LETTERS
• LOVE THAT REMAINS, THE
• LUCKY LU
• LURKER
• MAGIC FARM
• MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE
• MASTERMIND, THE
• MIRRORS NO. 3
• MY FATHER’S SHADOW
• NEVER GET BUSTED!
• NOUVELLE VAGUE
• OMAHA
• ONE MORE SHOT
• ORWELL: 2+2 = 5
• PASA FAHO
• POET, A
• PRESIDENT’S CAKE, THE
• PRIME MINISTER
• REBUILDING
• REDUX REDUX
• RENOIR
• RESURRECTION
• RIVALS OF AMZIAH KING, THE
• SEX (SEX, LOVE, DREAMS TRILOGY)
• SIGNORINELLA: LITTLE MISS
• SORRY, BABY
• SOUND OF FALLING
• SPACE CADET
• SPREADSHEET CHAMPIONS
• SPLITSVILLE
• TETES BRULEES
• THINGS YOU KILL, THE
• TO KILL A MONGOLIAN HORSE
• TRAINS
• TWIGGY
• TWINLESS
• URCHIN
• VIDEOHEAVEN
• WESTGATE
• WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU
• WORKMATES
• ZOMBUCHA!

GOOD ONE – ★★★★☆

A really good one! Possibly my favourite of the festival this year. Really quiet, measured film about a young woman going on a three day hike in regional New York State with her father and her father’s oldest friend. I loved the scenery, the soundtrack (by Celia Hollander), and the incredible story telling. It really showed how little needs to be done to step over a line, and how hard it can be to be heard when that happens. Impactful and highly recommended.

COPA 71 – ★★★★

Documentary about the Women’s Football (Soccer) World Cup held in Mexico City in 1971, which has never been recognised by FIFA, and barely remembered by the football/soccer community since. Well made, with plenty of interviews of the women who competed over 50 years ago, and wonderful moments where you can see the fire in them when discussing the matches and some of the treatment they had to endure. Sure is easy to be embarrassed and disappointed by the patriarchy. I’m really glad that stories like this are brought to light to try and make the world more equal and recognise those that have traditionally been marginalised. 

DEVO – ★★★☆

Documentary about the band Devo. I like Devo, though I’ve never been super into them. But this documentary was good, and I enjoyed it. Told the story of the band’s origin and process through the music industry, with several interviews from the band, and those associated with them. Definitely worth a look if you have even a passing interest in them.

SUNLIGHT – ★★★☆

Low budget film about a monkey (or at least a woman in a monkey suit who wants to be identified as such) and a suicidal man who has an Airstream RV. It begins a buddy/road trip type flick when the monkey saves the RV owner from death in order to pursue her dream of escaping her life and opening a business on a lake in Colorado. Plenty of odd humour going on here, but it grew on me as it went, after initially not engaging much with it. In some ways it kind of reminded me of Dirt from MIFF from 20+ years ago with its odd humour, though I didn’t enjoy this one as much.

THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN – ★★★★

Documentary about a young man with muscular dystrophy who died in his mid-20s. His parents were of the belief that he died being lonely and disconnected from society, but only after posting on his blog about his passing did they come to realise a the connection with community he had via online engagements through World of Warcraft. A touching film, possibly somewhat predictable in story, but interestingly presented. I’ve believed for decades that despite the dark, dangerous, and unkind nature of the Internet, that it’s also had the extraordinary benefit of building tribes/villages for those that might otherwise not have them (in good ways, that is). It was wonderful to see someone who was accepted and celebrated by a community when in the real world, he mightn’t have been able to experience the same.

THE OUTRUN – ★★★★

A film that I came out of with a lower score in mind, but as days have gone by I’ve increased it. This was a film where there was nothing wrong; in fact it gets pretty much everything right – I just felt that the subject matter was personally uncomfortable, and that unease reduced the enjoyment for me. It’s about a young woman returning from London to her small hometown after have some difficulties around alcoholism. Brilliantly acted by all, excellent soundtrack, and incredibly beautiful scenery of remote Scottish locations.