Bob checks in with five more short (but longer than capsule) reviews for the Seattle International Film Festival, 2026. Keep reading for reviews of Quince (Fifteen), Lady, Chili Finger, Sons of the Neon Night, and The Big Cheese!
SIFF is coming to an end. This makes me sad. And makes you happy if you’re tired of my one or two reviews a day for the past eleven days. This year, I caught 23 features and so many shorts, and have written a ton of reviews (not as many as I saw due to various restrictions; those will come later, possibly). Sitting down to write this, I wrote 10 full reviews, 4 short collections, and a selection of capsule reviews (along with my previous review for Marama –read Kim’s here). And I’m tired, and looking at the pile of other reviews and life-things that need to be done.
Thus, for the remainder of my SIFF programming (save those who are held for wide-release like I Love Boosters, I Want Your Sex, and Gaua), I’m going to have this single post of shorter reviews. Not limited to 75 capsules, but mini-reviews so I can still share my thoughts. My apologies to the filmmakers and to the films themselves that play at the end of the fest when the volumes of writing crash down. Don’t fear, filmmakers and film fans, I’ll write up full reviews when things hit non-festival consumption, or at least I plan on it! BTW, none of these are limited to a capsule, so not the 75-word limit of my last set of capsules, just shorter.
Quince (aka Fifteen) Written by Ricardo Alvarez Canales & Andrzej Rattinger; Directed by Jack Zagha Kababie & Yossy Zagha)
Quince, named for the age of the character as they get ready for their quinceañeras, falls into the “I really wish I liked this more” category. I appreciated it, but a few things kept it from connecting.
1 – It’s a reskinning of Ginger Snaps. The connection of two outcast girls prone to fits of horrific fancy starts to fray when one starts to change due to a horrific incursion (here, one is impregnated by her boyfriend, who was previously infected by a CHUD bite), becoming popular, shifting her personality, and with bloody body-altering effects of a monstrous adolescence, and the other is left behind, flailing at being alone. It’s close I just wanted to go watch the Canadian werewolf movie instead. That’s not good. 2 – The second act drags hard; not really moving forward as either a teen drama or a horror film. But the leads are great: Macarena Oz and Greta Marti are incredible, along with the mean girl Arminta Ireta; they really hold up the shortcomings. For all the spinning wheels, the finale is slam bang and does bring it to a head very well. With plenty of the red stuff. 3- The male gaze. I don’t want to get into it, but there is an ickiness in how they shoot their teenage leads. It made me uncomfortable and not in a good way.
Quince worked very well for others, having just gone and read a few other reviews, but not for me. Friends I talked to were a bit split, but as always, check it out for yourself. Heck, I might rewatch it myself at some point and see if it hits better.
Lady (written by Samuel Abrahams, Miranda Campbell Bowling; directed by Samual Abrahams)
Lady is a hilarious and charming mockumentary that takes some wonderful, unexpected character turns to shift what could be a jeering “ain’t she weird” smack to a solid character study of loneliness and loss. Let it be said: Sian Clifford, also of Fleabag and Mother Mary, is phenomenal. As the Lady in the title she gives a vivacious, fearless performance playing so many lawyers and wild eccentricities with an undertone of sadness. She was the runner-up for the best performance award of SIFF (after Inde Navarette in Obsession). She’s THAT good. Lady is a compelling mix of Sunset Boulevard and Grey Gardens, with a dash of Saltburn.
Lady Isabelle hires an up-and-coming, but naive, filmmaker, Sam (despite sharing the name of the director, Sam is played by Laurie Kynaston), to film her charitable efforts for a child pageant she runs from her home. Eccentric and slightly mad (her house is filled with hat-covered taxidermy), she soon breaks down the line of subject and filmmaker, and then it gets weird(er) and surreal. Abraham keeps it moving at a great clip, reveling in the odd, but true, fantastic characters to drive it; helped by the fantastic, mainly two-hander of performances by Clifford and Kynaston, who play off one another incredibly well, revealing their layers of insecurities and self-worth.
I’m so glad Lady wasn’t the “rich mixture of Michael Scott and Little Edie cringe-comedies a filmmaker” it could be bullet-point-plotted to and slightly expected (having seen the trailer, I knew there was more) from the start. With great performances, a strong script, wonderful characters, and a wowing production and costume design, Lady is a damned good film. Go Sian Clifford!
Chili Finger (written by Stephen Helstad; directed by Helstead & Edd Benda)
I love Judy Greer. A favorite character actress (most recently in The Long Walk), I’m glad she finally has the chance to lead a film (I’m assuming she has in films I’ve not seen seen but go with me here). What a film to do so. A Coen-esque crime comedy of the unraveling of lives when a finger ends up in her chili. She’s joined by a bevy of game performers in Sean Astin (as her sometimes infuriatingly dense husband, but they have great chemistry), Bryan Cranston, having a blast, and Coen mainstay John Goodman.
Chili Finger, based on the 2005 Wendy’s incident, deliciously follows the dark-comedy-crime-caper formula, and does so well. Truths are revealed, characters come and go (whether by choice or violently) as each is trying to figure out their part and how to get the biggest bite, and everyone gets over their head. Comic mayhem, character bits, set-ups pay off with a grand moment and laughs. There is amazing chemistry among the cast, and it’s so much fun as each point comes. I loved the Wisconsin energy (not too dissimilar from Fargo’s Minnesota Nice). The writing is sharp, Judy Greer is fantastic as the razzled lead. The film is straight-up funny from start to finish. Albeit as noted above, it’s familiar and formula but like eating a fast food joint (without a chili finger), it can be just as needed.
Chili Finger does go on a little long, with several points where it seemed it was ending, and could have been fine to stop. Think multiple codas, glad for the additional bits with the characters that close up further, but maybe some cutting in the middle could make the back-end bits land better. Funny enough, one with Sean Astin (tired cliche of Return of the King endings reference here) even has a “about to go to credits” needle drop. Maybe that was the point, nothing ending up too clean.
Chili Finger has been doing very well across the festival circuit (this is at least the third festival I’ve covered that has shown it, and I’m glad to finally see it at a packed screening), and for good reason. It’s a funny crime comedy that lands at what it aims at. With a great cast, especially Judy Greer and Bryan Cranston, a peppy pace (even with some snags), and an engaging plot, I’d say bite into Chili Finger when it becomes more available.
The Big Cheese (directed by Sara Joe Wolansky)
Another slice, heh – I’ll shred the cheese puns fromage here on out, you cheddar believe it- of fascination documentary work of watching people pursue their passions. Like Radioheart and Maintenance Artist, The Big Cheese falls into “following regular people in their slightly askew from regular work-a-day jobs.” That job: cheesemongers. Not the folks that make the cheese, but love it and sell it, knowing everything about the wide world of cheese options and ages. Like sommeliers for wine. Their task: head to Tours, France, to represent the United States at Mondial Du Fromage.
Wolansky crafts an incredibly engaging documentary, easily immersing the viewer in a world they might not know much about. It’s a great craft (Kraft? Okay, okay, I’ll go out on a limb-erger that I’m probably not done!) to not overwhelm nor leave the viewer lacking in information. No doubt this skill is helped by the cast, mainly Adam Moskowitz as the coach of the group, and Sam Rollins & Courtney Johnson (from Portland and Seattle, PNW represent!) as the two selectees for the contest. It’s their job to sell us unknowing rubes cheese, whether at a store or through the documentary. All of our major players are interesting, fun, and seem like great people to chat with (we even get background pathos with Moskowitz’s finding cheesemongering as a way out of a dead-end addiction).
This endearing doc made me want to buy all the cheeses at this week’s Trader Joe’s stock up. I held off, but it’s still hanging out in the back of my mind. Maybe I’ll indulge in a cheese Feta-ish and jump into a new hobby! (but probably not). Whether or not I bathe my home in cheese doesn’t matter, but what does is that The Big Cheese is a great documentary, and I recommend it. 
Sons of the Neon Night (written by Man Yu Chow & Juno Mak; Directed by Juno Mak)
Oh, Bowie. What a freakin’ mess. My first comment is going to be the same for everyone I know who was at the screening (friends or people I heard talking about later): It’s two hours, and I have no idea what the hell that was about. Characters come and go with no understanding of who they are, what they want, and how they matter. My friend Lily said, “It feels like we saw the middle part of a trilogy without the first”. That’s about right. It is utterly incomprehensible and not in the Italian dreamscape giallo type. Just the frustrating “when will this end, I’m not invested” sort. On paper, Sons of the Neon Night is about the power vacuum after the death of the patriarch of a crime family. That much I know. Crooked cops are involved, one son is in exile, and the other struggles to find if he wants to lead (I think). There are other people mixed in that I had no clue where they fell into the mess. Apparently, this has been in post-production for EIGHT years. All that time, and can’t edit a followable plot?
Don’t be confused by the Neon in the title; it’s a greyscale Brutalist type in look. I did appreciate that. Loved the snow-bound, monochrome. Fantastic visual sense. It looks incredibly expensive, and it was with Hong Kong’s largest budget yet. Sometimes it has some good action here and there, but the time between is such a waste. Skip wholly. Luckily, Sons of the Neon Night was the only film that I truly had a bad time with at the festival this year.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading! Five more films to check out (or not!). Keep checking back for Kim’s remaining coverage, I Love Boosters, and films to be released later!