Years after leaving his Long Island hometown to chase his dream as a filmmaker, Tom Bell (Finn Wittrock) is down on his luck as a director. Unable to replicate the success of his breakout film, Tom remains haunted by guilt from the high school accident that inspired it. As the black and white 16mm of Tom’s film creates a dreamlike, heightened connection to the past, his return to Westhampton forces him to confront buried secrets, broken relationships, and the past he tried to rewrite.

A meditation on actions from days long gone that are still seemingly stuck to the very internal organs of these characters, Christian Nilsson pulls no punches in this measured character study. The mix of distinctive imagery and candid perspective brings something distinct to the proceedings that’s unshakable, prompting us all to wonder what the lingering impact might be from decisions that may well be traps of our own making.—Casey Baron

Christian Nilsson