In the annals of independent animation, few names are as revered as the Brothers Quay. Born in Pennsylvania but possessed of a distinctly European expressionist sensibility, twin brothers Stephen and Timothy are famed for their nightmarish, indelible brand of handcrafted stop-motion animation. From Friday through Monday, The Brattle Theatre hosts the local premiere of the Quays’ first feature film in two decades, “Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass” (2025). The Day’s own Tom Meek has the review of that one, so I will here highlight the brothers’ landmark 1986 short “Street of Crocodiles,” which screens on 35 mm as an appetizer to the feature. Inspired by a 1933 story by Polish author Hugo Schulz, “Crocodiles” is a 21-minute fever dream of Victorian dolls, raw meat and all-around bad vibes. It’s a breathtaking piece of work, a bridge between Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s “Un Chien Andalou” (1929) and the contemporary goth culture of the 1980s. It’s a perfect pairing for the Quays’ new feature, which, it should go without saying, is appointment viewing for fans of the unusual.
The Harvard Film Archive’s free screenings of filmmaker Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” films continues Saturday with arguably the two most celebrated entries in the five-film anthology. “Red, White and Blue” (2020) features a Golden Globe-winning performance from John Boyega (of the latter-day “Star Wars” sequels) as police officer Leroy Logan, who finds himself conflicted as a Black man watching the racial prejudice and corruption of his fellow bobbies (the real-life Logan would go on to found the National Black Police Association to help reform the force from within). That film’s visual austerity is matched by the lush musicality of “Lovers Rock” (2020), which takes place over a single night at a wild house party in 1980s London. The story follows a young woman (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) as she encounters everything from an angry ex to racial prejudice, but the heart of the film lies in its extended, ecstatic dance sequences, lingering on the partygoers as they joyously groove to the titular reggae subgenre. A beautiful film in any context, this tribute to communal celebration felt especially poignant upon its release at the height of the Covid lockdown, when such a party was impossible; now, finally, it can be enjoyed in the company of others.
Few filmmakers are afforded the opportunity to cap their career with their most ambitious (and arguably greatest) work to date, and fewer still are able to recapture the magic of their most famous creation decades after the fact. Such is the case of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks: The Return” (2017), which begins an appropriately massive nine-day series of “marathon” screenings Wednesday. Picking up 25 years after the infamous cliffhanger that ended his groundbreaking ABC series, “The Return” follows the fractured psyche of special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, in the performance of his career) as he struggles to return from the metaphysical Black Lodge, but it’s much more than a simple reboot. Rather, it is a summation of the major themes of Lynch’s career: The horror, the humor, the music and the twisted yet earnest vision of true-blue Americana all reach their most fully realized form, as far ahead of TV in 2017 as the original series was in 1990. It also features one of the all-time great casts, reuniting most of the original players (many of whom have since died) along with collaborators from across Lynch’s career, a murderer’s row of character actors and of course Lynch himself, playing a wizened FBI Director Gordon Cole as a daffy, bemused self-avatar. The debate over whether “The Return” is a movie or a TV show continues to divide critical consensus, but nearly all agree it ranks among the late director’s very best work.
The Somerville Theatre on Wednesday continues its commitment to showcasing vital work from local filmmakers. Directed by Emerson professor Bob Nesson and mixing interview footage with animation, “Holding Up the Sky” is a documentary about Ed and Jimmy, two men who met while incarcerated and reconnected while on lifetime parole to found a successful construction business. At a time political rhetoric against those in prison is increasingly divisive and dehumanizing, it’s perhaps more vital than ever to shine a light on the human (and often heartbreaking) stories behind the statistics and what can be accomplished when we allow marginalized people a second chance. Stick around after the film for a Q&A with Nesson, once again proving the Somerville as a home for local voices.
Oscar Goff is a writer and film critic based in Somerville. He is film editor and senior critic for the Boston Hassle and his work has appeared in the monthly Boston Compass newspaper and publications such as WBUR’s The ARTery and iHeartNoise. He is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and the Online Film Critics Society.
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