Pop-Culturalist.com

The Tribeca Film Festival is underway! With so much great content available at your fingertips, you might be wondering what you should check out. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a list of the ten films that you must see at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. And if you can’t be in New York City (or feel more comfortable staying home), the programming will also be available online!

Now, let’s check out the seven films you need to see:

Next Exit

Director and Writer: Mali Elfman

Cast: Katie Parker, Rahul Kohli, Rose Mciver, Tongayi Chirisa, Tim Griffin, Diva Zappa, Nico Evers-Swindell, and Karen Gillan

Synopsis: When a research scientist makes national news proving she can track people into the afterlife, Rose sees a way out and Teddy sees his chance to finally make it. These two strangers, both harboring dark secrets, race to join the doctor’s contentious study and leave this life behind. While Rose is haunted by a ghostly presence that she can’t outrun, Teddy is forced to confront his past. As these two misfits humorously quarrel their way across the country, they meet people along the way who force them to reckon with what is really driving them.

Buy your tickets here.

Alone Together

Director and Writer: Katie Holmes

Cast: Katie Holmes, Jim Sturgess, Derek Luke, Becky Ann Baker, Zosia Mamet, Melissa Leo

Synopsis: Two strangers embroiled in bad relationships wind up double-booked in the same upstate New York rental during the start of the pandemic quarantine. Exasperating the situation, the lockdown forces them both to stay and ultimately confront the feelings that develop between them in this unexpected and unlikely love story.

Buy your tickets here.

Broadway Rising

Director: Amy Rice

Produced by:: Sam Bisbee, Justin Mikita, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Christopher G. Cowen and Amy Rice

Featuring: Ernie Frost Paylor, Kevin Mccollum, Amanda Kloots, Tom Kirdahy, John Kristiansen & Brian Blythe, T. Oliver Reid, Adam Perry, Jewelle Blackman, Meg Toohey, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Peter Mcintosh, Lynn Nottage

Synopsis: Broadway Rising tells the inspiring journey back to the stage and the toll of the pandemic on the Broadway community after a historic closure. The feature-length documentary follows subjects from all areas of the Broadway community – stage doormen, wardrobe technicians, playwrights, producers, actors, ushers, dancers, directors – to paint a full picture of the strength and diversity of the people on the stage and behind the scenes & their resilience, hope and dedication of being part of Broadway’s reopening.

Buy your tickets here.

Don’t Make Me Go

Director: Hannah Marks

Writer: Vera Herbert

Cast: John Cho, Mia Isaac, Mitchell Hope, Jemaine Clement, Stefania LaVie Owen, Kaya Scodelario

Synopsis: When single father Max (John Cho) discovers he has a terminal disease, he decides to try and cram all the years of love and support he will miss with his teenage daughter Wally (Mia Isaac) into the time he has left with her. With the promise of long-awaited driving lessons, he convinces Wally to accompany him on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion, where he secretly hopes to reunite her with her mother who left them long ago. A wholly original and emotional journey, Don’t Make Me Go explores the unbreakable, eternal bond between a father and daughter from both sides of the generational divide with heart and humor along for the ride.

Buy your tickets here.

Wes Schlagenhauf is Dying

Director: Parker Seaman

Writer: Devin Das, Parker Seaman

Cast: Devin Das, Parker Seaman, Wes Schlagenhauf, Aparna Nancherla, D’Arcy Carden, Mark Duplass

Synopsis: After finding out their best friend Wes is dying, aspiring filmmakers Parker Seaman and Devin Das decide that the best gift for their ailing pal would be a personalized video message from Mark Duplass. But when this present ignites an artistic fire in the two of them, a selfless act becomes a potential source of money and fame. Setting off on a road trip to Wes’ Idaho home with nothing but a cheap camera, some aesthetically appealing maps, and a van that reminds them of Little Miss Sunshine, Parker and Dev decide to make the next great American indie on the way.

Buy your tickets here.

Taurus

Director and Writer: Tim Sutton

Cast: Colson Baker, Maddie Hasson, Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory, Megan Fox, Ruby Rose, Scoot McNairy, Lil TJay, Naomi Wild

Synopsis: A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void. A work of fiction that explores fame, addiction, the artistic process, and the music industry, Taurus is a soulful and universal cautionary tale.

Buy your tickets here.

The Letter Man

Director: Andy Vallentine

Writer: Andy Vallentine and Danny Vallentine

Cast: Garrett Clayton, Matthew Postlethwaite

Synopsis: The Letter Man is based on the real love letters written by Gordon Bowsher to his sweetheart, Gilbert Bradley. Their love letters were exchanged between the years of 1938 and 1941 but were uncovered in 2017. Life as a homosexual at that time was incredibly difficult, gay activity was a court-martial offence, jail sentences for so-called “gross indecency” were common, and much of society strongly disapproved of same-sex relationships. Using the actual text of the letters, THE LETTER MEN transports us directly into the places of the letters and their hearts, battlefields, air raid shelters, and lost, golden moments.

Buy your tickets here.