SIFF 2025 Capsule Reviews: Episode One - The Festival Awakens

Welcome to Part One of what will be an epic saga that chronicles and collates my thoughts on the feature films I have been watching during the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival. One of the most intriguing things about SIFF is the endless amount of diverse voices creating just about any type of movie you can think of and telling every type of story imaginable.

Capsule Reviews:

• Ka Whawhai Tonu: Struggle Without End
• Four Mothers
• 40 Acres

TheTwoOhSix Picks - 2025 Seattle International Film Festival

Yes, it's once again time for the Seattle International Film Festival which means I get to spend way too much time analyzing the lineup of films, there are 245 films from 74 countries/regions around the world, and narrowing it down to the ones I feel are the can't miss picks of the year. I've been covering SIFF since 2012 and this is always one of my favorite times of the year so here we go. See below for this year's "TheTwoOhSix Picks" list.

Thunderbolts* - Movie Review

The Movie: Thunderbolts*

The Director: Jake Schreier

The Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The Story: After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

The Legend of Ochi - Movie Review

The Movie: The Legend of Ochi

The Director: Isaiah Saxon

The Cast: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe

The Story: In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as Ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby Ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.

The Wedding Banquet - Movie Review

The Movie: The Wedding Banquet

The Director: Andrew Ahn

The Cast: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-Chan, Bobo Le, Camille Atebe, with Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-Jung

The Story: A gay man makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatments for her. Plans evolve as Min's grandmother surprises them with a Korean wedding banquet.