Reveling in the glory of the pictures is what film festivals are for, and revelry abounded at the 21st installment of Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Festival, where tens of thousands of film (and series and podcast) lovers congregated throughout Lower Manhattan during the ten-day run. As Canadian wildfire smoke came and went in true “climate catastrophe is now à la Dune” fashion, we hit the carpets, visited some of New York’s historic theaters and set up a studio to talk shop with moviemakers.

He Went That Way star Zachary Quinto gushed about Y Tu Mamá También among other killer road movies, while Hari Nef of ensemble psych-horror Bad Things congratulated Alex Wolff on ‘being in a movie,’ Alexander Skarsgård proposed to Michael Shannon, and Gino Jevdjevic of wartime underground disco doc Kiss The Future offered some peak revolution-themed flicks to peep. Cabaret watch-party, anyone?

Two of our curtain-raiser mentions went home with top prizes: Numa Perrier’s The Perfect Find won the festival’s coveted Audience Award, while So Young Shelly Yo’s debut feature Smoking Tigers (more on this one below) received an honorable mention for the Nora Ephron Award and swept the narrative competition by winning Best Performance (Ji-Young Yoo) and Best Screenplay for the script’s “nuance, emotional honesty and deft sequencing.”

In fact, “first time feature director” proved to be a common phrase at this year’s Tribeca, as an array of rising directors like Yo, as well as TV titans and actors-turned-directors (Chelsea Peretti! Michael Shannon! Steve Buscemi!) showcased their projects.

Missed the festival in NYC this year? Not to fret. Tribeca At Home, the digital corollary of the in-person festival, is still on until July 2, with options to watch over 100 features and shorts that screened this year. In celebration of the breadth of movies we enjoyed at Tribeca 2023, here are five to watch courtesy of our team of correspondents: Leo Koziol, Brett Petersel, Adesola Thomas and Mia Vicino.

A Strange Path

Written and directed by Guto Parente

Brazilian Covid-era experimental drama A Strange Path deservedly swept international awards at Tribeca this year, taking home Best Narrative Feature, Cinematography, Screenplay and Performance (for lead actor Carlos Francisco, who carries the whole film). The Movie Waffler called it “a rare piece of pandemic cinema that takes advantage of the specific circumstances of that recent period of history to explore a universal theme,” while Katie Carter says A Strange Path is “one of the few movies I’ve seen to harness the weird and terrifying early pandemic energy in a way that isn’t cringe.”

The film feels like a Pandora’s Box that stays with you—it even invaded my dreams in days following. Father-son relationships can be tough—mine is, as are those of so many folks having reviewed the film on Letterboxd—and Parente gets to the heart of the matter: the distance men put between them and the bittersweet memory of loss. Sweeney Tom’s moving review says it all: “Very timely to see personally, and the day after my first Father’s Day alone. There’s a scene here I don’t think I’ll ever forget.” LK

Your Fat Friend

Directed by Jeanie Finlay

“Just say fat. Not ‘curvy’ or ‘chubby’ or ‘chunky’ or ‘fluffy’ or ‘more to love’ or ‘big guy’ or ‘full-figured’ or ‘big-boned’ or ‘queen size’ or ‘husky’ or ‘obese’ or ‘overweight’. Just say fat.” This is the opening paragraph of the essay that would launch Aubrey Gordon’s career—from anonymous blogger ‘YrFatFriend’ to bestselling author of What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.

Over the course of six years, documentarian Jeanie Finlay chronicled Aubrey’s life in Portland, Oregon, where she insightfully blogged with candor and humor about her experiences as a fat woman. As her follower count rose, so did the vile vitriol from doxxers and trolls who incorrectly assumed they knew best. Unfortunately, this is when the online world feels most tangible: one stranger publicly posting your address tends to counteract 100 encouraging comments.

At the same time, internet success is also difficult to measure. Aubrey’s father can’t fully grasp her influence until he sees her giving a sold-out talk at Powell’s Books: here, watching intently from the front row, he proudly whispers to the woman next to him, “That’s my daughter.”

Your Fat Friend is an empathetic documentary filled with tear-jerking moments like this one—Letterboxd member Emrose_st even writes that she “cried more at this than I did at Titanic”—but the waterworks flow from a well of deep-seated recognition rather than shallow, misplaced pity. Irma Goldberg puts it well: “Aubrey Gordon is a shining light in the fight against the cruel ideas of a diet culture that society is still eager to embrace. One debunking—one book and essay—at a time, she makes the world just a little bit brighter and safer for all fat people.” MV

John Early: Now More Than Ever

Written by John Early, directed by Emily Allan and Leah Hennessey

There is no reliable guidebook to manage the postering, simmering rage and cynicism that’s come to shape adulthood in the digital age. Luckily, alt-comic John Early’s here to speak quippy truth to power in his first hour-long HBO comedy special that’s two parts stand-up, one part mockumentary and a collection of great musical covers (Donna Summer and Britney Spears) with his accompanying band, The Lemon Squares. In John Early: Now More Than Ever, biting social commentary and Early’s satirical rock-star persona unspool a cheeky meta commentary on predation and ego in entertainment.

Early—like his long-time collaborator, First Time Female Director star Kate Berlant—is no stranger to carefully tinkering with a moment, leaning into a pregnant pause, vivifying a familiar type of person through a spot-on gesture or turn of phrase. But it’s Early’s capacity to embody and simultaneously critique this prescient brand of smarm charm that proves in the end to be casually hilarious. AT

As Miami-based demolition man Xavier Sr. (Atibon Nazaire) and his family navigate the rampant gentrification of their neighborhood, Little Haiti, Xavier Sr. contends with the increased proximity of his assigned demolition works sites to his home. The situational irony of his complicity alongside his very human desire to provide for Esperance and his son Xavier Jr. (Chris Renois), unfurls over 90 minutes in a visually satisfying, colorful array of moments and textured scenes of domestic life.

Sorelle doesn’t have answers for every question she raises, but that intermittent ambiguity surrounding the destiny of this family ultimately elevates the film’s titular beckoning to the aspects of American life that seem immovable, insurmountable and difficult to peer beyond. Indeed, one Letterboxd member simply writes: “undeniable.” All you need to know. AT

Suitable Flesh

Written by Dennis Paoli and directed by Joe Lynch

One of horror’s (and Tribeca Festival’s) most anticipated films this year is Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh, a film based on H.P. Lovecraft’s 1933 story ‘The Thing On The Doorstep’. While dialed down in regards to action and gore like his previous films Mayhem and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, Lynch put those two styles gently (and briefly) aside and opted for a calm, melodic approach parallel to his Creepshow segments—and it works.

Along with a fantastic cast (Heather Graham, Barbara Crampton, also producing) and script penned by Dennis Paoli (Re-Animator, Ghoulies II, From Beyond), both the body-swapping story and character synergy are showcased, resulting in one of the year’s best horror films (sure to land on plenty of Letterboxd end-of-year lists). Plus, we get to see a deranged side of Heather Graham. Or as Payton Alexa puts it: “Fuck yeah non-binary murder demon ghost and Eddie the himbo house bunny!!!!”

The cast graced the Letterboxd studio for a sit-down interview at Tribeca to talk all things Suitable Flesh. Crampton and Lynch, a very active Letterboxd member (who explains how powerful and influential Letterboxd is here) detailed how the film was in development for so many years: Stuart Gordon had been developing it up until his death in 2020, and Gordon and Crampton both knew Lynch would be the best person to direct. Throughout the film you can see Gordon’s influences, but Lynch injects his own style. BP