You carry something the other person doesn't know you're carrying. They are fine, or fine enough, and the thing you did or didn't do lives only inside you, which should maybe feel like a relief and mostly doesn't. The productivity is the management system. If your hands are full, the guilt can't find the surface: you answer emails, you start projects, you keep the engine loud enough to drown out the quieter frequency underneath. These films will not absolve you. But they move at the same speed as guilt, and sometimes that is what you actually need.
19 year old Isaiah Wright lives for basketball and video games. A year out of high school, he has no job, no plans, and no idea how to be a man. At odds with his single mother Cynthia, Isaiah is given an ultimatum - to step up or move out. Feeling the pull from his friends and th
It holds your attention at exactly the right level. Demanding enough that the loop cannot find a foothold, generous enough that it does not feel like work.
Full hands, quiet mind
Returning to Earth as an imitator, the legendary Mexican artist Pedro Infante must prove that he is no longer a womanizer to enter paradise.
Full enough to keep the front of your brain occupied. The thing you are working around will still be there later, but later is not now.
Keeps the front occupied
1980s. Brazilian television exploding in color and auditorium programs not so politically correct. In the middle of this fervor, Augusto Mendes, a young rising actor, seeks his place in the sun. From porn studios to soap operas, he finally finds success and fame when he becomes "
The right kind of busy. This film puts something in your hands and keeps it there until you are ready to set it down.
Right level of demanding
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
Exactly what distraction is supposed to be: a world complete enough to be in, undemanding enough to rest inside.
The bridge
Full enough to keep the loop from finding you. Just.
A family dog - with a near-human soul and a philosopher's mind - evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, a race-car driver.
It holds your attention at exactly the right level. Demanding enough that the loop cannot find a foothold, generous enough that it does not feel like work.
Full hands, quiet mind
In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Full enough to keep the front of your brain occupied. The thing you are working around will still be there later, but later is not now.
Keeps the front occupied
May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-s
The right kind of busy. This film puts something in your hands and keeps it there until you are ready to set it down.
Right level of demanding
Haruki secretly had feelings for Akihiko for years, but Akihiko was still in a relationship with his roommate, the violinist Ugetsu Murata. Haruki, Akihiko, and Ugetsu's love clashes and starts to move forward.
Exactly what distraction is supposed to be: a world complete enough to be in, undemanding enough to rest inside.
The bridge
In Fujisawa, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. Blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted by the appearance of his first crush, Shoko Makinohara.
It holds your attention at exactly the right level. Demanding enough that the loop cannot find a foothold, generous enough that it does not feel like work.
Full hands, quiet mind
Edmond Dantès becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After 14 years in the island prison of Ch--teau d’If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte-Cristo
Full enough to keep the front of your brain occupied. The thing you are working around will still be there later, but later is not now.
Keeps the front occupied
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.
The right kind of busy. This film puts something in your hands and keeps it there until you are ready to set it down.
Right level of demanding
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Exactly what distraction is supposed to be: a world complete enough to be in, undemanding enough to rest inside.
The bridge
Hands full, head somewhere else. That's the whole goal.