The 25 Best 2016 Films You Might Not Have Seen - Page 3 of 5

Happy Hour
“Happy Hour”
We’re not going to blame anyone for missing out on Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s massive, 317-minute “Happy Hour,” given it only received the smallest of theatrical runs due to its extra-long runtime, but we are going to insist that you try to make the time for one of the year’s most rewarding experiences. The film focuses on four female friends who, after learning one of them wants to divorce her husband, evaluate their own lives to determine if they’re truly happy with their own relationships. The film’s lengthiness means that all four leads (who won a joint prize for Best Actress at Locarno) have the time to flesh out their roles so their arcs evolve at a gradual, realistic pace that conventional dramas can’t emulate. What’s even more impressive is how Hamaguchi pulls this off through a series of long sequences, like a group workshop or a spa retreat, that enriches the drama while deepening our understanding of the four central characters. Don’t let the length fool you into thinking “Happy Hour” is some sort of slog to get through; it’s an involving film that paces itself accordingly, and those willing to put the time in will get rewarded for their investment.

Kicks, Justin Tipping
Kicks
It’s difficult to think of a streetwise film à la “Boyz N The Hood” with dreamy and introspective sensibilities like those of Sofia Coppola, but director Justin Tipping manages to effortlessly mix tones and moods in his startling debut, “Kicks.” Like a hip-hop-flecked Odyssey, “Kicks” centers on a dreamer: Brandon (Jahking Guillory), a young, bullied teenager yearning to be treated like anything other than a boy. Disaffected and underprivileged, a throwback pair of cool sneakers earns him brief status and respect, but then they are stolen by a local hood. The teenager pulls out all the stops on an ill-conceived mission to retrieve the shoes, leading to grim violence and desperate circumstance. A poignant film about misplaced masculinity, not only is “Kicks” moving and insightful, it’s brilliantly shot, composed and acted (there are many standouts, but the thug, played by Kofi Siriboe, who also appears on “Queen Sugar,” is a terrific breakthrough here). A trenchant look at what it means to be a man, and a powerful statement from an up-and-coming filmmaker.

I Am Not A Serial Killer
“I Am Not A Serial Killer”
Want to feel old? That’s Max Records, the adorable, pajama-ed moppet Max in Spike Jonze’s “Where The Wild Things Are,” playing budding teen psychopath John Wayne Cleaver in Billy O’Brien’s surprising “I Am Not A Serial Killer.” An adaptation of Dan Wells’ young-adult novel, it’s a dark and moody exploration of teen angst — exacerbated by a streak of sociopathy and a murderer on the loose in a small Midwestern town. But the film has a wonderfully retro lo-fi richness thanks to its 16mm format; it almost feels like a mysterious ’90s VHS deep cut lost to time — it even features Christopher Lloyd! Records is perfect as a grungy, long-haired Kurt Cobain-esque teenager, a mortician’s son who helps out with the family body business and works with his therapist on his diagnosed psychopathy. He doesn’t feel much, but he wants to, and he’d rather channel his energy into being a good guy than bad. There’s a shockingly warm heart at the center of this chilly murder mystery, and the film is a perfect follow up for retro-horror fun if you’re jonesing for that after binging “Stranger Things.”

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“The Invitation”
Karyn Kusama has had a strange career of it so far — her wildely acclaimed debut “Girlfight” netted her all sorts of awards, and launched her career skyward, but she tumbled to earth almost immediately with subpar sci-fi “Aeon Flux” and cheesy horror-comedy “Jennifer’s Body.” Her recent TV work has been much more solid, but it took the absolutely terrific indie thriller/horror “The Invitation” to really remind us all what she is capable of. It’s a taut, clever, frightening little story of a couple, Will and Kira (Logan Marshall-Green and Emayatzy Corinealdi), who go to a dinner party at the house of Will’s troubled ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard). The party quickly takes a dark turn as it’s revealed that Eden has become part of a cult-like organization in response to the death of her and Will’s child some years prior. The conflicting currents of guilt, grief and paranoia are brilliantly evoked by Kusama’s crisp yet woozy direction and the compact, efficient script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi has an almost Lynchian sense of the rot that can lie under the most complacent of bourgeois exteriors.

LittleMen
“Little Men”
Perhaps lacking the irresistible hook of his last (terrific) film “Love Is Strange,” which detailed with deep compassion the tribulations faced by an aging, recently married gay couple in gentrifying New York City, Ira Sachs‘ 2016 title made less of a splash overall. But though it might roughly belong in the wildly overpopulated coming-of-age category, the warmth and spiky insight Sachs brings to his story of the friendship that springs between two young boys despite adverse circumstances is a complete delight. The winning performances from the two newcomers (Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri), and the pricklier but no less heartfelt turns from the adult cast including Paulina García, Jennifer Ehle and Greg Kinnear, make this bittersweet yet hopeful story feel fresh, and the specificity of its setting speaks volumes about class mobility (or the lack thereof) in a New York City being crushed in on all sides by the pressures of economic change. Sachs’ beautiful facility for steering between archetypal, general wisdom and pin-sharp, perfectly idiosyncratic character portraits has never been on such shimmering, moving display.