Tribeca 2024: Cinematic Cerebrations

By Sean Boelman

The Tribeca Film Festival is one of the biggest film events of the summer, taking place after the spring festivals of Sundance, Berlinale, and Cannes but before the Fall kicks off with Venice, Telluride, and TIFF. From exciting world premieres with buzzy stars to indies from exciting new voices and international gems, the Tribeca Film Festival has an incredibly diverse lineup of films to discover.

We at disappointment media got to cover this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, and here are some quick thoughts on some of the films that played as part of the festival:

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Come Closer

Tom Nesher’s Come Closer was the inaugural winner of the Viewpoints section of the Tribeca Film Festival, which, according to the festival, is designed to “discover the most boundary-pushing, rule-breaking new voices in independent film.” While Come Closer does boast some incredible visuals, it feels a little too afraid to push boundaries on a narrative level. Lia Elalouf’s performance in the lead role is excellent and full of emotional vulnerability. However, the story, which follows a woman who forms an unexpected connection with her late brother’s secret girlfriend after his death, is a bit too familiar in its approach to resonate. 

Restless

Sometimes, the best films are those with the most straightforward premises. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Jed Hart’s Restless. Cinephiles will have seen this premise done in the thriller genre plenty of times before — a protagonist’s idyllic life is disturbed when a new neighbor moves in, causing a series of escalating conflicts. Only, in Restless, the conflicts don’t escalate nearly enough to be cinematic, much less compelling. Worse yet, Hart’s script has such low stakes that we are given little reason to care about this (un)neighborly conflict. Lyndsey Marshal’s turn in the lead role is passable, but like the role written for her, it lacks nuance.

Some Rain Must Fall

Qiu Yang’s Some Rain Must Fall premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year before making its North American premiere at Tribeca. Visually, Qiu’s film shows an incredible command of cinematic language, with some absolutely stunning cinematography. That being said, the story of a housewife whose life begins to spiral out of control isn’t that engaging. The film is simply too slowly paced, dealing in mundanities, for it to connect with audiences. 

Untitled Tim Burton Docuseries

Only one episode of Tara Wood’s to-be-titled docuseries on filmmaker Tim Burton screened at Tribeca, but those 60 minutes were some of the most engaging in the festival. Wood has a background telling the story of beloved filmmakers, having already made feature films about Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater, but the miniseries format seems to be even more conducive to her style. In the first episode (out of a planned four), she explores the early phase of his career, interviewing plenty of famous faces, including Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Johnny Depp, and more. Although it’s not particularly revelatory — especially for those who are fans of the director — it’s still fascinating.

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The 2024 Tribeca Film Festival ran June 5-15 in New York City.