Take Me to the River

Directed by Matt Sobel
Film Movement
2015
84 Minutes
USA
English
Coming of Age, LGBTQIA2S+, Drama
Not Rated

Sobel’s assured directorial debut is the story of Ryder, an artsy, confident California teen who is heading to Nebraska for a family reunion. After planning to come out to his conservative relatives, he holds off at his mother’s request but nevertheless makes a showy entrance at the cookout with his short shorts and his eye-catching shades. No one seems particularly impressed except his 9-year old cousin Molly, who likes to follow him around. When they go to the barn to look for birds in the rafters and she comes back screaming and inconsolable, Ryder comes under suspicion and, in the process of clearing his name, learns that some family secrets are sometimes better kept that way.

Director & Cast

  • Director: Matt Sobel
  • Starring: Logan Miller
  • Starring: Josh Hamilton
  • Starring: Richard Schiff
  • Starring: Robin Weigert
  • Starring: Ursula Parker

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "Superlatively acted culture-clash indie chillingly evokes primal dread and sexual transgression..."
    Ronnie Scheib, Variety
  • "Played out like a genuinely strange waking dream...we rarely see such taxing audacity from first time filmmakers."
    The Playlist
  • "Writer-director Matt Sobel's quietly engaging debut is one of the great discoveries of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: his fish-out-of-water observations have a personal edge..."
    Ibad Shah, Indiewire
Winner
Best Narrative
Tallgrass Film Festival
Official Selection
Sundance Film Festival