This week, the Seattle International Film Festival kicks off their 49th annual event, and the film lineup is stacked with incredible and compelling cinema from around the world.

With so much to choose from, here are some suggestions of films I have either seen, loved, and recommend you check out while they’re screening during the festival!

Past Lives

Opening the festival this year is the film Past Lives, by writer and director Celine Song in her feature directorial debut. This film is a film I saw at Sundance and have not been able to stop talking about.

SYNOPSIS

Past Lives follows a character named Nora who as a young child befriends a boy named Hae Sung. But when Nora’s family moves to the United States, the two lose contact for 12 years before reconnecting online as young adults. Though their connection with each other is strong, the long distance relationship proves unsustainable, they lose touch for another 12 years before reconnecting once again in new chapters of their lives. Through these various encounters, they each grapple with love, fate, longing, and regret.

Why I Recommend It

The acting performances are so authentic and the chemistry between the characters very earnestly demonstrates the complexities and nuances of this scenario. Song offers an outstanding directorial debut with Past Lives, and for many, the final moments of the film solidify it as one of the best, most affecting films of the year.

FESTIVAL AVAILABILITY

Get tickets to the SIFF Opening Night Screening.

The Mattachine Family

Making its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival, The Mattachine Family delivers an emotional story about family, friendship, and parenthood with characters that are easy to connect and relate with.

SYNOPSIS

The film, also a feature directorial debut from co-writer and director Andy Vallentine, tells the story of married couple Thomas and Oscar (played by Nico Tortorella and Juan Pablo Di Pace respectively) following the heartbreaking return of their young foster child back to his home. The devastation takes a toll on their relationship as they struggle to decide whether parenthood is right for them. Thomas, who narrates the film in a deeply self reflective manner, leans on his chosen family of close friends to help navigate this difficult period in his life as a conflict begins to arise between what he has and what he realizes that he truly wants.

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

This dramedy centers around a heartfelt sense of what love looks like for this set of characters, and addresses the challenges that come with having to acclimate to sudden life change. It’s a queer film that tells its story in a far more mature and grounded way than most other films in this genre. Based on the story written by real life husbands Andy and Danny Vallantine, The Mattachine Family offers this year’s SIFF lineup a funny, tender tale - likely one of the best films screening at the festival.

FESTIVAL AVAILABILITY

See SIFF showtimes and buy tickets.

Bottle Conditioned

This is one of my most highly anticipated documentaries screening at SIFF this year. While the craft beer scene has exploded over the past decade or two, Bottle Conditioned offers many an introduction to another form of beer that is worth exploring.

SYNOPSIS

“Bottle Conditioned explores the small Belgian community where lambicbeer—one ofthe oldest, rarest styles of beer—is made.”

In a statement on the official Bottle Conditioned website, director Jerry Franck talks about his experience with lambic beer, saying, “This beer had so much complexity and endless depths of flavor, unlike anything I had tried until that point. On the nose it was like overripe lemons with strong hints of hay and barnyard, and the taste was very dry, refreshing with some citrus notes, and a slightly bitter, tart finish.”

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

I love appreciation for the complexities of alcohol, and the experience drinking lambic beer is so similar to how I might indulge in wine or whiskey. Bottle Conditioned is a well produced educational piece about a corner of alcohol production that I was not aware of before. This film is an informational way to learn about this unique type of beer, and my hope is that fellow craft beer lovers are equally as intrigued.

FESTIVAL AVAILABILITY

See SIFF showtimes and buy tickets.

Next Sohee

Most of us have had jobs we didn’t like. And in those situations, it might feel like you’re trapped in that job, but then another opportunity comes and you move on. Well, for the young and hopeful interns in the Korean drama Next Sohee, the option to simply move on to a new opportunity is systematically eliminated, and the pressure to perform in a deeply toxic work environment can be insurmountable, leading to tragedy and a shocking investigation.

SYNOPSIS

Next Sohee happens in two parts, where the first act of the film follows the promising teenage main character named Sohee into her first job as an intern in a company that promises valuable work skills and upward mobility in the company. But the long hours, unfair pay practices, and psychologically abusive work weighs so heavily on Sohee that she feels trapped and is driven to take her own life. Then begins the second half of the film, which introduces a detective who begins to uncover how deep this system of exploiting high school students actually runs.

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

Each half is anchored by stellar performances from the film's two lead female actors, Kim Si-eun as Sohee and Bae Doona as the detective, Yoo-Jin. Through these characters, Next Sohee builds a mounting sense of dread as more and more is revealed about the terrible labor practices that motivated the inciting incident. This compelling narrative makes Next Sohee a film audiences will not soon forget.

FESTIVAL AVAILABILITY

See SIFF showtimes and buy tickets.