I became a fan of Sean Baker after seeing Tangerine. Each time a film of his comes out, it is an absolute treat. Whether he is humanizing folks doing sex work or fast food delivery, he is perhaps the most empathetic filmmaker out there. I watched Starlet thanks to the best streaming app out there for cinephiles, The Criterion Channel, who has put out 3 of Baker’s earlier works. Starlet is like nothing you have seen. It tells the story of 2 lost and lonely souls that form a most unusual and unexpected friendship and packs a subtle punch.

First feature by Nolan. I watched it because it was an hour and ten minutes long but it felt longer. Slow moving, not particularly captivating with his signature timeline jumble. At times I found it difficult to…follow.

Imagine this. It’s kind of like if you were watching that movie Class from 1983 and then about 50 minutes in, your friend drops a tab of acid into your Coke and suddenly the Andrew McCarthy character tries to lick semen out of the bathtub and the walls start melting and you keep asking “what is happening? Is this real?” and then more stuff that would never happen happens. Now imagine it’s much worse than that. Saltburn!