John Early’s directorial debut, Maddie’s Secret, is the type of film that, on paper, should not work. For starters, Early cast himself as the film’s female protagonist, Maddie Ralph. The movie feels like a cross between John Waters’ Female Trouble (1974), Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls (1995), and Arthur Allan Seidelman’s made-for-TV movie Kate’s Secret (1986). In fact, one could call it a parody of Kate’s Secret and similar earnest TV movies that tackled serious topics, such as eating disorders, in an over-the-top manner that made them unintentionally comical. However, Maddie’s Secret feels more like a pastiche than a parody, affectionately borrowing from its influences rather than merely mocking them.

David Freyne’s Eternity is one of the most creative and thought-provoking romance films in recent memory. It boasts an inventive premise involving the afterlife that feels evocative of films such as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (1991), and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life (1998), yet Freyne and co-writer Pat Cunnane’s screenplay still feels refreshingly original.