July 17^th: The penultimate day of my time at the festival, and the last day for fiction. Featuring a clever comedy about romance and ghosts, seven narrative short films from Maine artists, and a gross yet lovable film about a prostitute trying to free herself from a curse.

Mallory’s Ghost (2026)

Director: Arabella Oz
Screenwriter: Arabella Oz
Producer: Claire Sinofsky
Starring: Arabella Oz, Anjelica Bosboom, Delphi Harrington, Nick Canellakis

The Plot: When Mallory (Arabella Oz) accompanies her boyfriend Sam (Nick Canellakis) to a writer’s retreat in Maine, she is startled to learn that he’d been there before—with the ex-girlfriend, Louise (Anjelica Bosboom). Soon, Mallory finds herself haunted at every turn by a specter. Could it be Louise, or just Mallory’s own jealousy made manifest?

Tonally, Mallory’s Ghost is a throwback to romantic comedies from the 80s and 90s. The cerebral script and neurotic characters bring to mind Albert Brooks, while the more magical elements have echoes of films like Groundhog Day. Arabella Oz is interested in more than simple pastiche, though. Her witty script delves deep into the protagonist’s psyche, exploring the ways that personal insecurities can morph into the kind of unfounded jealousy that taints every interaction in a relationship.

The film is so light on its feet that Mallory remains likable throughout an existential crisis that could easily have come across as navel-gazing. That having been said, the script is sometimes a little too witty for its own good. Characters analyzing their own emotions and waxing poetic about love and relationships does eventually wear thin. Fortunately, Arabella Oz is a winning onscreen presence, and has strong chemistry with co-stars Nick Canellakis and Anjelica Bosboom. The former is good in the somewhat thankless harried boyfriend role, while Bosboom really gets to shine as the not-so-evil ex-girlfriend of unexpected depth.

Mallory’s Ghost won the Tourmaline prize for Best Maine-made feature film at this year’s festival. Not being a Mainer myself, I can’t really comment on how well it captures the local spirit, but it has beautiful scenery, strong performances, and a clever script. I look forward to seeing what Arabella Oz does next.

Shown with short: Something Greater Than You (2025):

Director: Gordon LePage
Screenwriter: Gordon LePage
Producer: Gordon LePage

The Plot: Two raccoons engage in an escalating series of pranks while sheltering from a winter storm. Their petty feud is interrupted by the arrival of an injured bird, reminding them of the things that really matter in life.

This stop-motion short is entirely the work of animator (and retired high school French teacher) Gordon LePage. Something Greater Than You is funny and brimming with charm—everything from the felt puppets to the retro props is lovely—but never lets the sentiment tip over into schmaltz.

Maine Narrative Shorts

Swine (2025)
A Game of Chance (2026)
Beachside Motel (2026)
She Had Some Work Done (2025)
Cloudbound Eagle (2026)
The Voyagers (2025)
Abandoned Buildings (2026)

One of my goals when attending this festival was to see as many local films as I could. All shot in Maine and covering a wide range of subjects and tones, from Swine‘s well-acted dark fable about a young woman who turns men into pigs to the insistently inspirational Abandoned Buildings, this block of seven short films did not disappoint.

The highlights for me included A Game of Chance, another charming stop-motion short from Gordon LePage, featuring a lonely mouse dancing among falling leaves; Beachside Motel, Robert Cafarelli’s quirky tale of a shy photographer falling for a mysterious pickpocket; and The Voyagers, an affably dorky story of wannabe rockers in the 80s that features a total banger of a power ballad.

Beachside Motel may be my favorite of the short films I saw at MIFF. It feels like a lost episode of a beloved 90s TV show, complete with opening credits. Director and screenwriter Robert Cafarelli makes excellent use of the melancholy isolation of off-season beach towns, combining a lo-fi aesthetic with a real photographer’s eye for composition. The tentative romance between the Photographer (Katie Naclerio) and the Pickpocket (Sam Rothermel) is genuinely touching. I’m sure Cafarelli, Naclerio, and Rothermel will move on to bigger things, but I for one would like to see more of these characters.

I was less moved by this year’s Tourmaline prize winner for best short film, Cloudbound Eagle. It’s a professionally made and acted coming-of-age story about teenage boys bonding while processing grief, but something about it feels slick in a way that diminishes its power.

This block also featured the final film from festival mainstay Nancy E. Andrews, who died tragically on July 11^th. She Had Some Work Done is the only film I’ve seen from the feminist filmmaker, but its combination of the abrasive and the slyly humorous explains why she made such a mark on the festival. I’m sure she’ll be missed at next year’s MIFF.

Fucktoys (2025):

Director: Annapurna Sriram
Screenwriter: Annapurna Sriram
Producer: Timothy Petryni
Starring: Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, Damian Young, Brandon Flynn, Big Freedia, François Arnaud

The Plot: Eternally optimistic prostitute AP (Annapurna Sriram) has had a run of bad luck lately. When she finds out that she’s been cursed, she sets off to raise $1,000 for a cure. Her odyssey takes her through a pastel underworld of butch punks, psychic drag queens, and oddball johns. Will she lift the curse and find a truly happy ending with her charismatic ex Danni (Sadie Scott)? Or is this all just part of life in the sex worker gig economy?

Like Mallory’s Ghost, Fucktoys wears its influences on its sleeve while charting its own path (the similarities end there, though). Annapurna Sriram’s vision brings to mind the gross-out camp of John Waters and the worn romanticism of Jim Jarmusch, along with the aesthetic sensibilities of Sofia Coppola. For all that, Fucktoys feels like part of a lineage, rather than a copy.

This film is destined to raise eyebrows, depicting a variety of sex acts that don’t get the spotlight in mainstream comedies, even those aimed at adults. A running gag in one scene has AP asking everyone she meets at a house party “Do you need to pee?” The payoff is at once a solid, funny punchline and a shocking moment of oh, she’s actually going there. It got a big laugh at the late night screening I attended.

Even at its most scatological, Fucktoys maintains such an open-hearted charm and sympathy for its characters that it’s impossible not to root for them. As AP, Sriram is a delight. Her protagonist has an unshakable faith in romance that’s tempered by a determined pragmatism that keeps her from tipping over into naivete. She and Sadie Scott have fantastic chemistry; the central romance anchors the film as AP careens from one outlandish situation to another.

The strength of the cast extends beyond the two lovers. Fucktoys may be camp, but every role is cast exactly right and played to the perfect tone. Damian Young is great as AP’s kindest client, starting out as pathetic and ending up almost fatherly in a way that comes across as touching rather than creepy. French Canadian actor François Arnaud, whose work I recently admired in In Transit, is another standout. Here he finds just the right pitch for his drug-addled DJ and serial killer.

Annapurna Sriram’s greatest strength as an actor, writer, and director is taking the film’s characters seriously across its varied tones and absurd situations. Whether the film is operating in the realm of camp, romance, gross comedy, thriller, or high melodrama, Fucktoys never stops wearing a beating heart on its sleeve.