Chris Azzopardi

Departures is still tender and winsome, with graphic-novel-style animation lightening the load, but is ultimately punishing in tone. It lives by a truth that might ring familiar for gay men particularly: Humor that cuts deep is a form of survival.

In this strikingly assured debut, the writer-director Georgi M. Unkovski demonstrates gentle realism, paired with luminous cinematography and a superb young cast.

Paying for It keeps its narrative tight, perhaps overly simple. There’s space to savor the retro intimacy, amplified by the film’s striking primary colors and lo-fi rock soundtrack. Lee — while only gesturing toward the complexities of open arrangements — captures Chester and Sonny in a fleeting time that feels soft, but not shy.

It’s an accessible presentation for fans. Others may find it too insider-focused, even as it renders Selena’s symbolic self more human.

While the writer-director Carmen Emmi’s evocative debut relies on a nostalgically textured aesthetic that sometimes seems to mask its thin narrative, the heat builds in unexpected ways, ultimately igniting through the quiet agony of living as someone you’re not.

A winking ode to queer youth who still dream — too fiercely, too soon — amid self-discovery and family disruption, Griffin in Summer gives aching shape to a child’s need for order in a world that defies their understanding.