This Week in Maine Cinema: MIFF 2025
A round-up of some of our most anticipated films showing at this year's Maine International Film Festival
It’s July and festival season has officially started here in the great state of Maine! The first on the docket this year is the 28th annual Maine International Film Festival up in Waterville, which features a wide slate of films from around the world as well as a retrospective of the films of Clive Owen, this year’s Mid-Life Achievement honoree. In celebration of the festival, we’ve had our staff take a look at the festival program and pick some films that they are most excited about.
So here we go, welcome to The Maine Playweek!
Croupier
Tuesday July 15 at 7pm | Waterville Opera House
While I have never seen the movie Croupier, which gave Clive Owen his North American debut in 1998, I do hold Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men in extremely high regard, a film which is playing earlier that day at MIFF as a part of their Mid-Career Achievement celebration for Owen. It was one of the first movies I watched as a young person that made me see how movies could provide more than just thrills: they could be gentle, meditative, and harsh all at once. The film shows a painful reflection of our world, which was affirming to someone who was just beginning to understand it. So, I am extremely excited to re-watch Children of Men on the big screen and follow that shortly thereafter with Croupier, which (word on the street) is a casino-based thriller that harkens back to classic detective noir. - Kyle Manning
[Ed. - this is also the Mid-Life Achievement event and Clive Owen will be in attendance, so be sure to get your tickets ASAP!]
Oh, Hi!
Friday July 18 at 9pm, Saturday July 19 at 3pm | Maine Film Center
An indie rom-com with a slightly unhinged twist and a commentary on the plight of modern dating?? Pure catnip for me. Oh, Hi! appeared on my radar because I follow Logan Lerman (my former teenage celebrity crush, thanks to his role in the Percy Jackson movies) and Molly Gordon (the seriously funny Rebecca-Diane in the 2023 mockumentary Theater Camp) on Instagram and they posted ahead of the film's Sundance premiere earlier this year. The trailer of Oh, Hi! starts out picture-perfect, then turns absurdly chaotic when Isaac (Lerman) admits to Iris (Gordon) that he's "not really looking for a serious relationship." Those of us who have played the dating game at any point in the last 10 years (or longer) know how frustrating this non-committal, too-cool-for-school, Tinder-addled apathy can be, and it looks like the film pokes fun at this trend in a wacky, cathartic way. Join me at 9pm on Friday, July 18 to laugh at Molly Gordon's antics and drool at Logan Lerman in handcuffs. - Julia Dunlavey
Fun fact: Desmin Borges (who starred in last year's Portland-shot comedy Hangdog) plays a small supporting role.
The Terminal Man
Monday July 14 at 6pm | Maine Film Center
Outside of Sight Unseen and Clive Owen films, I am really excited to see The Terminal Man this year at MIFF. Some of my favorite films that I have watched at MIFF have been older films that I have, for one reason or another, missed in my life. A sci-fi film made in the 1970s by Mike Hodges, director of Get Carter (a favorite film of mine), based on a novel by Michael Crichton? I’m not sure how I’ve lived so long without seeing this, but I’m glad my first viewing will be in a theater. - Tony Crabtree
The Negotiator
Wednesday July 16 at 7pm | Waterville Opera House
My MIFF pick is the centerpiece film The Negotiator, following Maine Senator George Mitchell’s peace negotiations in Northern Ireland that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Maine politicians have a history of taking the spotlight in important moments, from Margaret Chase Smith during McCarthyism, to Janet Mills’ recent resistance to the federal administration, and this film stands out to me as a timely look at another Mainer’s vital role. Recently, the eponymous figures of director Trevor Birney’s last project (2024’s Kneecap) have become embroiled in controversy due to their support of the Palestinian people and I’m particularly interested to see if and how Birney ties these two political moments together. - Nate Stephenson
Fantasy Life
Saturday July 12 at 3pm, Friday July 18 at 6:20pm | Maine Film Center
I’ve always loved Amanda Peet, she’s truly an amazing actress. So when I heard of Fantasy Life and the fact that it’s her star-turn, I took notice. A dramedy heavily influenced by mental health and ennui? Sign me the fuck up! Plus, it’s Matthew Shear’s debut as writer/director and there was plenty of buzz around his work at the film’s premiere during SXSW. - Charlie Beck
You can buy tickets to all of these films via their respective buttons, but you can also buy yourself a festival pass to get access to all of them! Check it out below…