This year, Borja Izuzquiza, Alan French, and Josh Walbert will cover the 2024 Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Florida. The festival primarily takes place at the Enzian Theater and the Regal Winter Park Theater. With the festival season running hot in Florida over the past few weeks, it’s exciting to see a great combination of festival favorites and debuts hitting Central Florida.
This year’s opening night film is Rachel Hendrix. Please be sure to pick up your tickets ahead of time. The Florida-set movie comes from Victor Nunez and follows a woman on the path to healing. Globe winner Lori Singer takes on the lead role, and it’s hard not to be excited for her return to the big screen. This marks her first film since 2017.
Of course, there are a handful of special events over the course of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. The yearly Secret Screening has rumors coming and going, but it’s sure to be another excellent night. Additionally, John Cleese will be available for a specially ticketed event to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Natasha Lyonne will join for her own ticketed Q&A, covering her early queer classic But I’m a Cheerleader. To close down the festival, get ready for a screening of Foxy Brown, celebrating it’s 50th anniversary.
With Regal Winter Park finished with its renovation, have no fear. The 2024 Florida Film Festival is back in full swing at the theater and is sure to have some of the comfiest seats in town. Additionally, The Enzian offers many great food options while watching your movies. Remember to check out their menu ahead of time to make the most of your festival experience.
Below, you can see our updated list of reviews. The most recent reviews will show up at the top, and you can find reviews further down for 2023 and beyond. Have a great time at the festival this year, and enjoy the ride!
The 2024 Florida Film Festival Reviews
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The Queen of My Dreams explores the complex world of the relationship between children and their parents, specifically between mothers and daughters. What sets it apart is first-time director Fawzia Mirza’s unique storytelling.
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Kelly O’ Sullivan and Alex Thompson explore the effects of grief and how art can serve as a coping mechanism. It is not a novel look into these ideas, but Ghostlight manages to weave a tightly-knit story with uplifting and devastating emotional returns.
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One of the great aspects of the Florida Film Festival is how it embraces genre filmmaking. Folding in K-Horror, slasher features, and a neon-soaked shoot ’em up highlights some very different styles. It’s part of why we love the festival.
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Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the turn of the millennium. This means that the perpetually down-on-its-luck millennial generation is quickly approaching the dreaded 40-year plateau or has already comfortably settled into their 5th decade. Meaning, millennials are no longer children. In fact, two more generations have followed. The title of Joanna Arnow’s…
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Told through alternating animation styles, interviews, and stock footage, director Alex Lamb makes the whole proceeding as fascinating and palatable as any of the drinks Beach invented.
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Ratliff demonstrates that niche passions connect people in inextricable ways. These connections can build into something truly unexpected yet equally rewarding. Something like a George Lucas Talk Show. And thank the Maker for that.
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With brilliant visuals and the most passionate fans of the culture featured throughout the documentary, you feel the love for Tiki Culture. While it could be easy to poke fun at Donn and his hair-brained schemes, Lamb never does.
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While the story at its heart is a little thin, the visual sense of Slide lifts the Western and musical to new heights. Afterward, it’s impossible to get Plympton’s one-of-a-kind images out of your mind.
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The roots of our trauma and anxiety cause many unable to process emotion. What if a machine could help you find the source of that hurt? What if your pain stemmed from a past life? One of the most ambitious movies of 2024, The Beast quickly unfolds this concept. It’s not only strange, but forces…
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New Life is a medical horror for a post-pandemic world, a film that chooses to focus on humanity and empathy in the face of looming terror.
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Going behind the scenes of The George Lucas Talk Show, we experience the comedy highs and quiet melancholy few can see. It’s a powerful experience to see this unfettered access in the life of a workman comedian.
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Many areas once known for their local attitude are replaced by conformity for the sake of convenience. Happy Campers, a new film from Amy Nicholson, follows one of these communities. While we expect consistency from new buildings, neighborhoods, and stores, it also means someone’s world was uprooted.
What do you think of the 2024 Florida Film Festival? Check out more information here!
Remember to continue to check back here to see new reviews! Some titles are embargoed until they are released in theaters, so this page may see updates later in 2024. With a great lineup, there will be many sleeper hits to get back to as well. Even if the Florida Film Festival ends on April 21, expect us to bring it up time and time again. It’s already proven to be one of the most enjoyable film festivals in the state, and this year’s lineup is something special.
