John Dotson

Invisible conditions are hard to explain to most people. Even worse, it’s hard to explain anxiety when as a mental health issue, it is sometimes caused by abuse or past trauma. Typically it’s a common thing most will laugh at when conveyed as a problem. The movie Violet will quiet a lot of those who

The film portion of SXSW has wrapped, which means the time has arrived for all the winners to be acknowledged. There have been a lot of amazing gems within the virtual library. Films like Here Before and Islands were exceptional in storytelling and performances. That said, not everyone can be a winner. Today the virtual

Losing a child is something every parent stresses about from the minute they are born. And if that child does lose their life, the grief cannot be explained in words. Here Before explores that idea of grief in a psychological mystery involving a girl claiming to be the deceased daughter of a mother. The film

Broadcast Signal Intrusion begins on a disturbing and mysterious note and maintains an addictive narrative throughout. Imagine this. A video feed invading one’s broadcast with images of persons acting robotic and wearing a skinlike mask yelling in gibberish audio. Take the most disturbing moment in Possessor where one character is wearing the face of someone

The last four to five years have shown how dangerous a leader can be when taking executive action. The film Executive Order takes that scary notion and depicts it to its extreme. Just like the DREAMers, kids who migrated here and not because they were old enough to make the decision, the thought of a

As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” We as human beings are not meant to be isolated. But sometimes life, circumstances, personality traits, and even viruses can force us inward. The film Islands which will compete at SXSW explores such themes through a lonely Filipino man named Joshua, who finds himself in