After the grim spectacle of last week’s presidential debate, we could all use an escape. If the real world isn’t weird enough for you, the film freaks at the Dairy Arts Center have got you covered with the nonprofit arts center’s weekly Friday Night Weird showcase — an expertly curated selection of underground movies from around the world that has shaken up the sensibilities of local cinephiles since 2016.
From sensitive teen vampires to coming-of-age body horror fantasies, many of this month’s offerings share a focus on young women’s stories. Boulder Weekly sat down with the Dairy’s own “queen of the weird” Shay Wescott to explore this throughline and get the skinny on what’s coming to this subversive series at the Boedecker Theater in July.
“I want people to have access to all kinds of films and step outside of their comfort zones,” Wescott says. “But I think that can also mean subverting expectations on what genre films look like when they come from less traditional voices.”
ON SCREEN: Friday Night Weird. 8:30 p.m. Dairy Arts Center – Boedecker Theater, 2590 Walnut St. $12
What You Wish For
Friday, July 5
Nicholas Tomnay, 2024, USA, 1:41, NR
Some movies are better seen with as little knowledge as possible. Nicholas Tomnay’s What You Wish For is one of those films, so Wescott is careful not to share too much in the way of details. Describing it as a mashup between The Menu, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Fresh, she says you should go in cold to this social thriller about a down-on-his-luck chef who assumes the identity of an old friend as a private chef for the wealthy.
“There have been a lot of great class satires in the past few years, but this one is more a cautionary tale for anyone who maybe still feels a twinge of envy,” Wescott says. “It’s suspenseful and it’s gory and it’s definitely entertaining.”
Shay Wescott’s Top 5 Underrated Vampire Movies
1. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014, Iran)
2. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987, USA)
3. Def by Temptation (James Bond III, 1990, USA)
3. Fascination (Jean Rollin, 1979, France)
4. Blood Splattered Bride (Vicente Aranda, 1972, Spain)
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Friday, July 19 | Saturday, July 20
Ariane Louis-Seize, 2024, Canada, 1:30, NR
Wescott has a soft spot for vampire movies. Maybe it’s the campy melodrama or the exquisitely goth aesthetic, but she says you can expect to encounter plenty of immortal bloodsuckers throughout the season at the Dairy’s weekly cinematic showcase of all things strange.
It’s no surprise the Friday Night Weird co-curator is especially stoked about the new film by Canadian director Ariane Louis-Seize, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. The movie follows a young vampire named Sasha (Sara Montpetit). “Too sensitive to kill,” her empathy for humans draws the ire of her parents who force the teen to fend for her own blood supply. Enter a lonely boy named Paul, who offers his own life to protect hers.
“Vampires have served as really great metaphors for everything from capitalism to sexuality; and there’s also been a lot of great filmic explorations of child and teenage vampires and the angst of actually being forever young,” Wescott says. “So I really welcome this clever, sensitive, fairy-tale adjacent entry into that genre.”
Tiger Stripes
Friday, July 26
Amanda Nell Eu, 2023, Malaysia, 1:35, PG-13
Puberty can be a pretty scary time. Just ask 12-year-old Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal), who discovers a terrifying secret about her body in this feral offering from Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu. Following its Grand Prize-winning world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Tiger Stripes draws from cultural folklore for a fresh twist on a classic transformation tale.
“If Humanist Vampire is for those who want a little more magic and ennui in their genre films, Tiger Stripes is the body horror, female rage antidote,” Wescott says. “You’ll see multiple taglines calling Tiger Stripes the ‘Malaysian Carrie’ with the onset of puberty presenting new, magical powers — but it’s the fact that both are grounded in the continued misogyny amongst young women themselves that I hope people walk away considering.”
Feeling social? Follow Friday Night Weird on Letterboxd at bit.ly/FNWeird.