AFI Fest has a few world premieres of its own, but it’s also a great chance for folks in Los Angeles to check out acclaimed hits from other film festivals. Tickets are free via AFI.com and CraveOnline will be covering the selection with reviews and recaps from November 6-13.
If you’re planning your AFI Fest, we’ve seen a number of the films ahead of time, so we can help you out with a preview of some of the festival’s highlights. Check out the slideshow below for some choice AFI Fest movies, in order of their showing during the festival.
13 Movies You Have to See at AFI Fest 2014:
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
13 Movies You Have To See At AFI Fest 2014
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The Tribe
I reviewed The Tribe at Fantastic Fest and Drafthouse Films is going to be releasing it, but you should take this opportunity to experience it as soon as possible. Starring deaf actors communicating in sign language, with no subtitles, The Tribe transports you into their world and presents a harrowing crime drama at that.
Plays 11/7 at 6:30PM and 11/8 at 4:15PM.
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Blind
Bibbs reviewed Blind at Sundance and made me aware that perhaps there was even more in the film than I realized on first viewing. I may have to join you for a second watch. A good companion to The Tribe, and probably programmed as such, Blind stars Ellen Dorit Petersen as a blind author who’s not sure if someone is in her home or she’s just hearing/imagining things. Then there are other levels as the stories she writes may or may not be real.
Plays 11/7 at 10:15PM and 11/8 at 4:45 PM.
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It Follows
The second film by David Robert Mitchell takes a similar tone to his The Myth of the American Sleepover but makes it a horror movie. A curse has slow walking figures approach terrified teens, and the curse is sexually transmitted.
Check out my recap from Fantastic Fest, and catch It Follows 11/7 at midnight and 11/8 at 3:30PM.
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Inherent Vice
Nobody at CraveOnline has seen Inherent Vice yet, but the U.S. premiere of the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie is a no brainer.
Plays 11/8 at 6:30 and 10:30 PM.
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What We Do in the Shadows
The New Zealand vampire comedy from Taika Waititi and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement is hilarious. We’ve reviewed the film at Sundance and interviewed Waititi and Clement so we really want you to see it without spoiling any of the jokes.
Plays 11/8 at midnight and 11/11 at 4PM.
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Merchants of Doubt
Robert Kenner’s documentary on climate change deniers is an in-depth look at media manipulation with ties to the tobacco lobby. We all agree the tobacco lobby is bad, right? So if that’s the way folks are denying climate change, that may be corrupt.
See for yourself 11/8 at 7:30 PM or 11/11 at 4:00 PM.
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Wild Tales
The surprise hit of Telluride sold out so many shows that it even usurped a final showing of Birdman and filled the theater again. Six tales involving revenge take different forms. None are what you might expect, and though there are a couple weak links like in any anthology, the highlights more than make up for them.
Playing 11/8 at 8:30 PM or 11/10 at 12:15 PM.
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Haemoo
The story of a Korean ship smuggling immigrants is a sobering story of desperation and grueling ethical dilemmas. It may be a tad predictable, but only because this tragic story plays out so often in real life. Co-written by Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho and directed by Memories of Murder writer Shim Sung-bo, it’s a collaboration worth taking in on the big screen.
Plays 11/9 at 8PM or 11/2 at 6PM.
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Goodnight Mommy
The secret screening of Fantastic Fest blew me away and I didn’t want to give too much away. See it so we can discuss the second and third acts.
Plays 11/11 at 9PM and 11/12 at 9:30PM.
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Girlhood
Franchise Fred would love to believe that this was the spinoff of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, but alas it is just a coincidence they both come out the same year. Girlhood is a female coming of age story about a high school dropout who finds acceptance with a gang of women, dealing with her feminine identity with as much music and visual contemplation as there is plot and dialogue.
Plays 11/12 at 7:15PM only.
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The Homesman
At Telluride, I said I needed more time to think about The Homesman because it may be brilliant. It’s been months and I still haven’t decided, so maybe you can tell me.
Plays 11/11 at 7PM.
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The Duke of Burgundy
Also from Fantastic Fest, The Duke of Burgundy is a twisted love story about a lesbian submissive and her partner, who might not be so comfortable being a dom. It manages to be uncomfortable without being graphic. Emotional humiliations are way more palpable than whips and chains. Bibbs raved about The Duke of Burgundy at TIFF and interviewed the director in an exclusive video.
Plays 11/11 at 10PM and 11/12 at 6:30PM.
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Mommy
Xavier Dolan’s latest film was a surprise to me at Telluride, and an utterly compelling portrait of a single mom and her special needs son. It’s tough and grueling, but the performances by Anne Dorval and Antoine Olivier Pilon are captivating.
Plays 11/12 at 7:30PM and 11/13 at 6PM.
