Thinestra (Nathan Hertz, 2025)

Thinestra, the debut feature from Nathan Hertz, is a sly body horror that premiered at the 2025 edition of the Raindance Film Festival.  Horror was well represented at Raindance 2025, with a total of 16 genre feature films selected for the festival; Thinestra aside, these included eye-popping giallo homage Saturnalia, anthology sequel Dui Shaw, Slovenian shocker Hole, Paul Raschid's riotous interactive movie The Run, and lockdown tale Our Happy Place.  While laughter may not have been the top criterion for those who explored the festival's horror offerings, Thinestra was almost certainly the funniest film in the strand.

The world has long been fascinated with the concept of beauty and the lengths to which individuals will go to maintain it.  Thinestra takes this obsession as a starting point for a cautionary tale which examines some of the cosmetics industry's often overlooked darker aspects, all the while considering the psychological impact of impossible beauty standards.  Indie musician Michelle Macedo plays Penny, a body-conscious, downtrodden LA photo retoucher whose life descends into chaos when Mariah (Mary Beth Barone), a model working at the same studio, offers her a new unlicensed weight loss drug called Thinestra.

Mariah hands over the medication with a warning that it—like the film itself—is seriously strong stuff that won't suit everyone.  What could possibly go wrong?  Naturally, Penny proceeds to take the tablets, and dramatic weight loss duly follows.  But this shedding of pounds, as you would only expect, comes at a price, which takes the shape of the birth of Penny's ravenous, uninhibited doppelgänger (played by Macedo's twin sister and bandmate Melissa), who craves human flesh as much as Penny does body perfection.  Thus, Penny's enjoyment of her new physique is tempered by her double's violent, erratic behaviour.

Set during Christmastime in a sweltering LA, Thinestra often recalls Coralie Fargeat's The Substance, and Nathan Hertz's assured debut will hopefully find a suitable audience as it arrives in the wake of one of last year's most talked-about films.  But the influence of Julia Ducournau's Raw can also be felt here, and it is refreshing to note that Hertz's key reference points appear to be works by female francophone directors who are broadly aligned with the New French Extremity.  Thinestra is an oddly affecting film, and its humour and gloopy FX, while enjoyable, belie a serious message regarding society's fixation with the superficial.

Darren Arnold

Images: Raindance

David Lynch: The Dreamer (1/1/26–1/2/26)

The BFI have announced details for their January season, David Lynch: The Dreamer, at London's BFI Southbank and IMAX (1 January–1 February), paying tribute to a true multidisciplinary artist and unique visionary.  Honouring Lynch’s enduring influence and legacy, the programme is a chance for reflection a year on from his passing and what would have been his 80th birthday.  The season includes his great masterpieces, his innovative short films and playful digital experiments, documentary portraits, including a preview of new documentary Welcome to Lynchland (Stéphane Ghez, 2025), plus a Twin Peaks-inspired immersive installation.  A selection of Lynch's films will also be available on BFI Player.

Although he was a certified grandmaster of the surreal, and frequently characterised as a maker of challenging films, the true defining quality of David Lynch’s work is its power to connect with audiences.  He crafted distinct dreamscapes, through his rich visuals, idiosyncratic music choices and haunting sound design, that are charged with human emotion, moving us to both frightening and nostalgic places and taking us on journeys to examine and understand the darkness that lurks under everyday pristine facades.  Lynch embraced a spectrum of creative outlets; unarguably one of the most influential filmmakers of the last 50 years, his brilliance reshaped cinema, television, music, art and the internet.

The season includes screenings of Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980)—including a screening introduced by actor and filmmaker Dexter Fletcher on 27 January—Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Lost Highway (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006).  Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014) will screen as a David Lynch birthday double bill on 20 January.  There’s also the opportunity to experience Lynch’s universe on the UK’s biggest screen at BFI IMAX, with screenings of Eraserhead (11 January), Blue Velvet (12 January), Wild at Heart (18 January), Mulholland Drive (25 January) and Lost Highway (1 February).

Source/images: BFI

Sofa, So Good (Kyle Thiele/Eli Thiele/Cole Thiele, 2024)

Sofa, So Good debuted at last year's edition of the Cleveland International Film Festival and has since enjoyed no less than three screenings at the London Film Festival, where it received its European premiere.  Written and directed by the Thiele Brothers (Kyle, Eli and Cole), the film is a slight mumblecore comedy that follows the exploits of two Ohio cousins who, after purchasing a second-hand sofa, find themselves struggling to transport it home.  What follows is a monochrome trek across the cousins' hometown, in which a routine task escalates into a byzantine journey replete with frustrating incidents and oddball characters.

The film's premise is as straightforward as it is relatable, exploring themes of friendship, determination, and the inherent vagaries of life.  It tells a story recognisable to anyone who has taken on a simple challenge that unexpectedly snowballed into a labyrinthine ordeal, and the Thiele Brothers have crafted a tale that encourages viewers to see the funny side of the quotidian hurdles we all face—or at the very least, find humour in the ways in which we might attempt to solve such problems.  The film's conclusion, while thuddingly predictable, is as absurd as what has come before, and reminds us not to take things too seriously.

This amusingly titled film could also be viewed as a microcosm of life as a whole: is each of us, in our own way, heaving the couch across town, and if so, to what avail?  Set and filmed entirely in and around the rust belt city of Dayton, Sofa, So Good was made—with the barest of skeleton crews—during the 2020 lockdown; as such, its weirdly unpopulated streets add to the surreal, off-kilter nature of a movie that maintains the same low-key pace for much of its brisk running time.  While it certainly doesn't deliver a surfeit of laughs, this engaging throwback nevertheless serves as a sturdy example of pandemic-era indie filmmaking.

Darren Arnold

Images: BFI