Love & Frustration

FINN’S GIRL (Canada) After a wobbly start, this well-acted drama about Finn (Brooke Johnson), a Toronto gynecologist trying to keep her late partner’s abortion clinic running while raising their teenage daughter, hits its stride. Credit the daughter, Zelly (Maya Ritter), who gradually becomes the film’s emotional center and catalyst. There’s still no shortage of over-the-top moments — Finn is stalked by an anti-abortion group that has only two members, and finds romance with the female cop sent to protect her — but this film from co-directors Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert (who wrote the script) is satisfyingly adult in its depiction of female sexuality. Amid the assassination attempts and clinic intrigue, it also raises resonant questions about moving forward after a loss. (Directors Guild of America, Fri., July 20, 9:45 p.m.) (CW)

SHELTER (USA) Zach (Trevor Wright) is a promising artist who turned down CalArts to stay in San Pedro and help his irresponsible older sister (played by the amazingly gifted L.A. actress Tina Holmes) care for her little boy. At the beach, Zach, who surfs as often as possible, reconnects with his best friend’s gay-novelist older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe). The two start hanging out and eventually begin an affair, Zach’s first with a man. Like much of this impressive first film from writer-director Jonah Markowitz, Zach and Shawn’s relationship feels authentic and true; you can imagine them being together for a long time to come. Those seeking high drama may be frustrated with the low-key Shelter, but Markowitz has put his faith in small moments, like the little grin that suddenly plays across Zach’s face as he drives home from his first night with Shawn. Wright is a find, while Rowe may surprise those who dismissed him as a Brad Pitt look-alike when he first came to attention in the 1988 Outfest hit Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss. Here, Rowe displays new authority and confidence, as if lately he’s been looking in the mirror and seeing himself, rather than that other, more famous blond. (John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Wed., July 18, 8:30 p.m.) (CW)

Life in The Bubble (Strand Releasing)

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More About

• Directors Guild of America
• Brad Rowe
• Eytan Fox
• Tel Aviv
• Trevor Wright

WHILE YOU ARE HERE (Germany) “He’s asleep downstairs. I’m so excited I just don’t know what to do.” That’s George (Michael Gempart), an elderly German pensioner, speaking into his tape-recorder diary, entries from which play on the soundtrack of this magnificent 80-minute film from 26-year-old writer-director Stefan Westerwelle, who made it as his senior project at Cologne’s Academy of Media Arts. George is excited because Sebastian (Leander Lichti), the young hustler he’s been hiring of late, has unexpectedly decided to stay the night. Both men need the company, and both gradually find resonance in the other’s haltingly told stories of the various men (fathers, lovers, et al.) who’ve shaped their lives. This exquisitely designed and photographed film has a disjointed and ultimately very moving time scheme, and a vividly physical sense of how a man such as George — like single people the world over — surrounds himself with the photos and objects whose nearness soothes his soul. In its affinity for the movement of light and shadow across a domestic space, While You Are Here calls to mind the films of British master Terence Davies (The Long Day Closes and Distant Voices, Still Lives), while its appreciation for the daily rhythms of solitude makes it the cinematic equivalent of Christopher Isherwood’s seminal novel of gay life, A Single Man. That’s surely too much hyperbole for such a modest film, but this is gorgeous work from an exciting new filmmaker. (REDCAT, Sat., July 21, 9:30 p.m.) (CW)