Bonjour!
Friday, May 15 — It’s Friday! And I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a very Tony Soprano meets “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” type of week! I’ve got a film festival hangover, Atlanta traffic made me late to my “Obsession” screening (didn’t stop me from liking the movie though!), and my parents made me crawl into their definitely haunted attic to check for a leak. Is this all TMI? Maybe! But if we’re not honest, then what are we?
Despite many snafus this week, I have a pretty great newsletter for you, if I do say so myself. We’re checking in with indie film of yore, subverting the “crazy girlfriend” trope, and checking in with Dungeons & Dragons culture. But first, the news.
Without further ado … Action!
💸 The Georgia Production Partnership has launched an initiative called the Georgia Production Partnership Alliance focused on direct investment into Georgia’s future filmmakers.
⭐ Actress Goldie Hawn will be this year’s featured speaker at the Atlanta Women’s Foundation’s “Numbers Too Big To Ignore” luncheon on Nov. 19.
🇪🇸 Tonight and tomorrow at 8:30 p.m., the film series Off the Wall @ 725 Ponce is hosting the Atlanta premiere of José Antonio Sistiaga’s experimental film “Ere erera baleibu izik subua aruaren.”
✍️ Submissions are open for the 2027 Atlanta Film Festival! The early deadline to submit is May 29.
🎮 The Atlanta Fringe Festival will return for its 14th year May 29-31 and June 5-7. In other festival news, DreamHack, a gaming lifestyle festival, hits Atlanta May 15-17.
🗾 Wonder Festival, a Japanese event focused on showcasing garage kits and model figurines, is coming to MomoCon this year, making it the festival’s first time in North America.
🕊️ I recently spoke with my editor Collin Kelley and Megan Volpert about their new book “White Winged Doves: A Stevie Nicks Poetry Anthology,” which hits bookstores on June 16.
🪴 Frank Oz’s beloved musical film “Little Shop of Horrors” will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year with a Nov. 13 screening at Atlanta Symphony Hall. Tickets are on sale today.
🥖 The Cannes Film Festival started Tuesday and will run through May 23. I’ve been keeping up with coverage through IndieWire, and also via Amanda Dobbins’ Instagram – keep the fit checks coming, Dobbins!
This week’s newsletter includes an interview with members of the popular web series Critical Role, a look back at Georgia indie cinema through the lens of the Atlanta Film Festival, and a review of Curry Barker’s new horror film “Obsession.” Plus, there’s a new edition of Spotlight, what’s playing in theaters this week, and some listening and reading recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
🎸 City Green Live and Concerts by the Springs brings unforgettable nights of music under the stars. Enjoy live bands, great vibes, and community fun in a beautiful outdoor setting. These events are free! Learn more and see the full schedule here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Georgia filmmakers celebrate their history with Atlanta Film Festival’s 50th anniversary
🍿 In 2013, “The Spectacular Now” felt like the perfect choice to close out the Atlanta Film Festival.
Athens native James Ponsoldt shot the movie – a coming-of-age romance based on Tim Tharp’s novel of the same name – in his hometown during the summer of 2012. Almost 15 years later, Ponsoldt returned to this year’s 50th Atlanta Film Festival for a retrospective screening of “The Spectacular Now” – one of many screenings celebrating the history and breadth of not only the festival itself, but the Georgia filmmakers who populate its past.
For this piece, I spoke with three people with different ties to Georgia’s film industry and strong connections to the festival, whose journeys have taken them all in different directions. Some were born and raised in small towns they longed to put onscreen, and some were making films in Atlanta long before it became a Hollywood production hub. Some moved to L.A., and some stayed behind. But, whenever they ended up, they all returned for the festival’s 50th anniversary to pay homage to the state where it all started.
🎥 Check out the full piece here.
A nostalgic summer vacation at Lake Oconee
SPONSORED BY VISIT LAKE OCONEE
🏖️ Looking for things to do this summer or planning a weekend getaway near Atlanta? Just over an hour away, Lake Oconee is one of Georgia’s top summer destinations, offering everything from boating and fishing to berry picking and small-town charm.
🌞 Whether you’re planning a relaxing lake vacation or hoping to recreate the “good old days” with your kids or grandkids, Lake Oconee is the perfect place to slow down and make lasting summer memories.
Travis Willingham and Marisha Ray on MomoCon and Critical Role’s success
🎲 Playing Dungeons & Dragons for a living sounds like a kid’s pipedream. But for the team at Critical Role, it’s a reality.
Critical Role is a web series where a group of voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons on a livestream. The stream started back in 2015, and has led to comic books, novels, and two animated series based on Critical Role campaigns – “The Legend of Vox Machina” and “The Mighty Nein.” The fourth season of “Vox Machina” is scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime on June 3, and season two of “The Mighty Nein” is reportedly close to wrapping up.
The founding cast of Critical Role, which includes Travis Willingham and Marisha Ray, are stopping by this year’s MomoCon for photo ops and autographs on May 23 and 24, right before they kick off their 2026 Echoes of Exandria Live Show Tour at Gas South Arena on May 26. Ahead of MomoCon, I spoke to Willingham and Ray about Critical Role and how it has evolved over the years.
🐉 Check out our conversation here.
‘Obsession’ offers a clever, horror twist on the ‘crazy girlfriend’ trope
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🐻 Early on in Curry Barker’s new horror film “Obsession,” Nikki (Inde Navarrette) stands outside the passenger door to her coworker and friend Bear’s (Michael Johnston) car. She leans down into the vehicle, making intentional eye contact with Bear as she asks: “Do you like me?”
It’s very clear to the audience that the answer to this question is a resounding yes. Bear has known Nikki for years, and harbored a not-so-subtle secret crush on her the whole time – afraid of voicing these feelings in case she doesn’t like him back. So, instead of answering Nikki outright, he chickens out. Typical.
“Obsession” takes its name from when, after Bear is unable to tell Nikki how he feels, he makes a half-hearted wish on a kitschy toy that he got from a novelty shop, wishing that Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world. After that wish comes true – perhaps a little too true – we’re off to the races, Barker proving himself a gifted horror filmmaker with a surprisingly smart, subversive take on a well-worn genre. “Obsession” cleverly uproots the idea of who we should be rooting for in a horror movie, and delivers a star-making horror performance from Navarrette in the process.
❤️🔥 Click here to read my full review.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
👆 “Is God Is” (pictured)
🌠 “Obsession”
💸 “In the Grey”
🇷🇺 “The Wizard of the Kremlin”
👩🌾 “The Gardener”
🎙️ “Steal This Story, Please!”
Special Events:
🕶️ “Escape From New York” @ The Plaza (Friday-Wednesday)
🚘 Joystick: “Back to the Future” @ The Plaza (Friday)
👹 Silver Scream Spookshow: “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” @ The Plaza (Saturday)
🐴 “Sorry to Bother You” @ The Plaza (Sunday-Thursday)
🎧 “Steal This Story, Please!” with Amy Goodman @ The Tara (Friday) SOLD OUT
✈️ “Top Gun” 40th Anniversary (Friday-Thursday)
😎 “Top Gun: Maverick” Re-Release (Friday-Thursday)
💚 “Shrek” 25th Anniversary (Friday-Thursday)
🟡 “Despicable Me 4” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Saturday-Sunday)
🥊 “Creed” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sunday-Monday)
🎼 “Begin Again” @ Landmark Midtown Art Cinema (Sunday)
🎸 City Green Live and Concerts by the Springs brings unforgettable nights of music under the stars. Enjoy live bands, great vibes, and community fun in a beautiful outdoor setting. These events are free! Learn more and see the full schedule here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Spotlight: Charli XCX
🍏 Charli XCX is moving into a new era. And no, I don’t mean her Rock Music era (although I’m digging the song). I mean her cinephile era!
To be fair, she’s been here for a minute – you only have to take a scroll through her Letterboxd to know. But the 2026 Charli XCX Cinematic Universe is popping off more than I anticipated this year. And by George (Daniel), she’s pretty dang good!
Charli started the year with a companion album she made for Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” but the cinematic journey really starts with Aidan Zamiri’s “The Moment,” a blisteringly funny satire about the increasingly corporatized artistic landscape in which Charli exists. Here, she plays a fictionalized version of herself – an anxious, insecure star who has been thrust into the spotlight and is desperately trying to hold onto that titular moment.
Charli is not the first musician or celebrity to play a fake version of themselves for entertainment’s sake. But her acting credits this year do not start and end with “The Moment.” She’s in the new horror film “Faces of Death,” and she’s the star and co-writer of Pete Ohs’ new film “Erupcja.” Admittedly, I haven’t seen “Erupcja” yet, but a friend told me it reminded him of “Before Sunrise,” and that’s about the highest praise you can give in my book.
What I have seen her in, and what inspired me to spotlight her this week, is in a very small, but very funny role in Gregg Araki’s new film “I Want Your Sex.” She plays Minerva, the girlfriend of our main character, Elliot (Cooper Hoffman). She’s a grad student and therefore supremely stressed, with zero time for Elliot’s exploits, sexual or otherwise. It’s a lane I haven’t seen from her before – she’s not the cool girl, or the party girl, but rather the aggrieved girlfriend, her deadpan delivery humorously bumping against Hoffman’s flighty idiocy. Watching her here was the moment I thought, now wait a second – we might have something more than a flash in the pan, more than a musician having some fun, on our hands.
Lights, Camera, Action!
🎧 Praise be, I’ve found a new podcast! This one is for the girlies looking to learn something, but also to have a little fun. “Right Answers Mostly” is a podcast where your hosts Claire and Tess talk history like it’s gossip over wine. It’s not necessarily a movie podcast, but they did just finish up a series on Hollywood that I blew through, loving their engaging rapport and mostly accurate takes.Check out their episode on River Phoenix and others here.
🚁 Tracy Letts joined Sean Fennessey on “The Big Picture” podcast this week to talk all things Robert Duvall, who passed away earlier this year. Whether you love “The Godfather” or you’re more of a “Tender Mercies” person, this episode is for you.
🇳🇴 Renate Reinsve is back, baby! But this time, she’s not working with Joachim Trier. The actress is in Cristian Mungiu’s new movie “Fjord,” which is premiering at Cannes this year. Check out this interview from “The Wrap” (subscription needed) to learn more about Reinsve’s acting processes and what she has coming down the pipeline.
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
