Joyce Chopra: Last News

Tomris Laffly A humdrum thriller that clumsily digs into themes of sexual and emotional trauma, Amy Redford’s sophomore feature “Roost” follows Anna (Grace Van Dien), an archetypal perceptive teenage girl on the cusp of maturity. Because she’s the observant kind who yearns for big ideas and possibilities outside of her small suburban world, it’s no surprise that it isn’t a square teenage boy from her school that romantically sweeps Anna off her feet, but a man of nearly 30 years of age she’s met online. He’s the creepily mysterious Eric (Kyle Gallner, chillingly effective), someone who ignites Anna’s all-consuming emotions, shares her love of Emily Dickinson and notices (at least on the surface) the complexities of this young girl who wants to cross over to adulthood fast. But when he shows up at Anna’s doorstep uninvited all too abruptly after traveling hundreds of miles, he rattles the disturbed Anna, who struggles with saying a firm no to Eric’s disarming demeanor.

It was the Grand Jury Prize winner of the Sundance Film Festival in its year. It launched the storied career of Laura Dern in earnest.

As Hollywood tries to balance the enormous gender disparity among directors, many critics and audiences are looking back with added respect on past works of female filmmakers, trying to reframe traditional notions of film history by focusing on different perspectives. One film that perfectly encapsulates the difference a female perspective can make is 1985’s “Smooth Talk,” whose new restoration is being celebrated among the revivals of the 58th New York Film Festival.