Synopsis
Abandon me harder daddy.
A cursed young woman sets out on a wild fundraising adventure through Trashtown, USA, after she's told by multiple psychics that she can break the curse by paying them $1000.
Directed by Annapurna Sriram
A cursed young woman sets out on a wild fundraising adventure through Trashtown, USA, after she's told by multiple psychics that she can break the curse by paying them $1000.
Damn, I love this movie. Annapurna showed me a cut last year and I went in with the feeling of "oh cool my friend made a thing that's nice" and left absolutely in awe. And I'm only more bowled away watching it again today! So clever, so fucking funny, so sweet and sexy and sad and stylish and unique and COOL. Unbelievably inspiring to see a really well-made, independent, microbudget film from a writer/director/actor that is so full-formed and somehow entirely shot on 16mm. There's a transitional shot coming off a phone call that takes the lead character into the third act that made me lean forward and almost scream YEAH!!! because I loved it so much. Confident it's gonna…
I edited this movie and so, unsurprisingly, I love it like a child, and have never been prouder ❤️
BUT beyond that, I feel like if I saw it for the first time at the premiere yesterday, I would be OBSESSED. Annapurna Sriram is a rare gift to us all -- absolutely committed to using filmmaking as an art form. The movie is utterly bespoke, fun, campy, deeply cinematic -- but also wholly genuine and asks so many deep and relevant questions about the way we all survive in our own late stage capitalist Trashtown.
I love it. I love that others love it. I hope everyone gets to watch it in a movie theater (it's natural and most joyous habitat) and I cannot WAIT to see what Annapurna does next!
visionary collision of sparkle and spunk (both definitions of the word)! unapologetic about tramp-stamping a media landscape hellbent on ensuring that women do not get the opportunity to make bizarro-erotic art. Annapurna’s 16mm-shot directorial debut (!!!) got me nodding viciously in agreement when, during the post-screening vape sesh, one of my girls bestowed upon it one of the hautest possible compliments: “Varda would’ve loved this.” i’m a proud resident of Trashtown, USA!
annapurna sriram is the motherfucking future
16mm stunner through a Tarot-inspired, heightened-reality Louisiana. It takes a wild amount of guts to namedrop John Waters and Gregg Araki in the Q&A for your first feature, but Annapurna Sriram’s really got it — what a gorgeous, assured debut.
like the odyssey but for queer hot people
It opens with a gorgeous wide shot of the Louisiana wetlands with a small raft and a touch of color at its center, a greenscape of water and vegetation that tells you you're probably south of I-10 somewhere west of New Orleans (the director would clarify the film was made in the area of Norco, which tracks). It's such a sharp statement of place that you can smell the oil companies and humidity and thick accents on the screen. This is followed by views of overpasses, industrial parks, abandoned or damaged buildings, gas stations, diners, and rotting farmhouses and apartment complexes. It's the hurricane-wasted edges of America, a land derided by classists, drained dry by capitalists, love-hated by its inhabitants,…
“I love trash.”
“Then you’re gonna love me.”
Immediately bumped to my top 4. Seeing films like this labor of love gives me actual hope for the future.
🎀🏍️ 💦
It’s like Anora if it was actually good.
Far more introspective and lovely than I was led to believe. Had assumed this would play as a midnight movie riot and that’s certainly present, but more than anything, it’s a remarkably assured view of what it means to yearn for a community but lack the coping mechanisms to let them in. Liked this a lot. Looks incredible and that soundtrack is chock full of no skips.
I love trash too Annapurna!
This is major. Anora by way of John Waters for people who don’t fuck with Sean Baker. Luscious, aesthetically rich, fucking filthy, class conscious, hysterically queer, and surprisingly poignant. Miss Annapurna Sriram, Queen of Americana decay, a woman after my own heart and taste! I would rather be a whore than invisible!
Full capsule review as part of my Boston Underground Film Festival coverage on The Arts Fuse.
What a breath of fresh air! Annapurna Sriram coming out of the gate with a fully formed vision as a filmmaker. Super eager to see what she puts together next, but this isn’t one of those “Debut film shows potential, the second one could be great!” situations. Fucktoys is a lightning rod on its own terms, like Gregg Araki making a Mad Max movie. Breathtaking 16mm photography, a trust in the audience to not need its apocalyptic decaying Trashtown universe spelled out to us, rather allowing us to be embedded authentically into that world and go along for the ride with its characters. Fun, tragic, unexpected and a one-of-a-kind vision.