At the Gates

This feels like a part of a new trend in genre cinema: intellectual thrillers. The film's direction keeps pushing you forward into a place and into a conversation you aren't sure you want to have. Its uncomfortable in the way a thriller should be, and a way that this topic must be. You are never bored. Never comfortable. Never sure who to trust...

It takes all the pieces of edge-of-your-seat filmmaking as a vehicle for an important conversation...

A conversation that we should be having with our friends, our families and our politicians. If you can, watch this film and have this conversation.

Fantastic film.

This is an excellent and original thriller in which we never know where it's going until the very end. I saw At the Gates at the Deauville film festival where the film received the most heartfelt and resounding standing ovation. The oppressive atmosphere and smart scenario make At The Gates a favorite of the festival.

In At The Gates, tension comes from what we don't see, or rather, from what we don't know. The film uses a cruelly efficient suspense to convey the dangers in the US today.

The lead actor Ezekiel Pacheco is a talent to watch. And the score by up and coming composer Julia Newman lasts with you after the film ends.

This is a gripping and smart mystery. The best I've seen this year.

I can't recommend this film enough. It is a timely and exciting thriller that plays with the ideas of family, protecting one's own, cultural differences, shared human nature. There are so many interesting twists and turns, it will leave you guessing until the very end. Don't miss out, I haven't watched something this original in years.

It is also a thoughtful meditation on the value of domestic workers in this country and the importance of respecting every individual's experience, regardless of their race, nationality or occupation. I am so grateful to the writer/director for bringing this film to life and sharing with the world. Bravo!