I Like Movies (2023)

I Like Movies is special because it treats movie love as both a lifeline and a blindfold, capturing that painfully funny age when your taste feels like a personality and your ego does the talking. Chandler Levack directs with the confidence of someone who knows nostalgia isn’t the point—people are—and the result is a sharply observed, unexpectedly warm coming-of-age story set amid the comforting hum of a 2003 video store. Isaiah Lehtinen is terrific as Lawrence, a prickly, socially inept cinephile whose ambition and insecurity collide in ways that are cringey, relatable, and ultimately moving, especially as his complicated bond with his manager (Romina D’Ugo) forces him to see beyond his own script. It’s honest about how hard it is to grow up when you’re not especially likable yet, so if you need a flawlessly charming hero this may not be your vibe—but if you can handle a little secondhand embarrassment on the way to real emotional payoff, it’s absolutely worth the rental.

I Like Movies is aiming for a painfully honest coming-of-age portrait of a movie-obsessed teen whose arrogance and social blindness keep torching his relationships, and it does capture that early-2000s video-store vibe with real affection. The problem is you’ll spend a lot of time with a protagonist who’s deliberately grating, and if you need someone to root for quickly, this can feel like homework rather than catharsis. It also treads pretty familiar indie-drama territory, and the modest budget plus occasionally uneven performances can make the emotional beats land softer than they should. If you’re into cringe-comedy, character flaws, and slow-earned growth, it’s worth a look; if you want a sharper, fresher, or more polished crowd-pleaser, you may want to skip it.