Conor Marsh lives a secluded life with his dog, Sandy, until one day he begins playing Obex, a new, state-of-the-art computer game. When Sandy goes missing, the line between reality and game blurs and Conor must venture into the strange world of OBEX to bring her home.

Baltimore-based writer-director Albert Birney (Strawberry Mansion, 2021 Sundance Film Festival) returns with another delightfully skewed and surreal lo-fi fantasy. Set in pre-internet 1987 and strikingly shot in monochromatic black and white, the film depicts Conor’s (Birney) lonely existence of solitary screen time, transfixed by early Macs with slowly rendering graphics and TVs aglow with the horror movie late show.

Matching these hypnotic images, Birney immerses us in a dense soundscape of warm droning synths, clacking keyboards, malevolent static, chirping cicadas, and the click and whine of dot matrix printers. The film’s dreamy nostalgia soon becomes an analog nightmare as Conor finds himself trapped in a low-tech but high-stakes video game. 

We’ve been waiting to give you the good news for months: legendary director Lav Diaz’s new film, Magellan, is finally sailing on over to The Frida Cinema!

At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (Gael García Bernal) navigated a fleet of ships to Southeast Asia, attempting the first voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean. On reaching the Malay Archipelago, the crew pushed to the brink of madness in the harshness of the high seas and overwhelming natural beauty of the islands, Magellan’s obsession leads to a rebellion and reckoning with the consequences of power.

A vast, globe-spanning epic from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz (Norte, The End Of History), Magellan presents the colonization of the Philippines as a primal, shocking encounter with the unknown and a radical retelling of European narratives of discovery and exploration.

They’re baaaaaaaaaack! Think you’ve got what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the film nerds of Southern California? Then it’s time to put your cinema knowledge to the ultimate test at The Frida’s monthly Film Trivia Night!

Each month, we challenge cinephiles with five meticulously crafted rounds of film trivia, plus a special bonus round for those who truly know their stuff. Expect everything from deep dives to cult classics, iconic soundtracks to infamous flops. 

Our brand new Staff Picks series kicks off with the 2018 indie dramedy Hearts Beat Loud, courtesy of our Development Director, Porter!

In the hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, single dad and record store owner Frank is preparing to send his hard-working daughter Sam off to college while being forced to close his vintage shop. Hoping to stay connected through their shared musical passions, Frank urges Sam to turn their weekly jam sessions into a father-daughter live act. After their first song becomes an internet breakout, the two embark on a journey of love, growing up and musical discovery.

Over the years, Hearts Beat Loud has settled into the same emotional space as films like Begin Again, Sing Street, and Once. They’re not huge theatrical hits, but deeply beloved by those who found them. And for first timers, now is as good a time as ever to discover this gem on this big screen!