OKLAHOMA CITY – Between the summer blockbuster action season and the fall’s horror-heavy freaky free-for-all, it can be tough to figure out just where September fits into the cinematic experience.
Multiplexes usually spend the month burning off the summer’s biggest moneymakers and prepping for the flood of horror-hungry teens come October.
But for the real cinephiles, September is a glorious time when the art houses shine with creative auteur pictures and the studios drop their smaller, artsier fare that they can’t find a place for elsewhere.
And 2025 is no different.
So in between the blockbusters and the bloodbaths, OKC theaters are rolling out a handful of gritty, street-level character pieces in September designed to ground your heart or grind on your nerves.
That includes a harrowing and vitally relevant migrant story from a French wavemaker, an underseen streetlife tragedy starring one of the most compelling modern acting talents, and a brand new, gritty city adventure yarn that’s coming out of left field from one of America’s most unpredictable auteurs.
‘Souleymane’s Story’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – September 12th through 14th
This Cannes standout follows just a few days in the hectic, unyielding life of Souleymane, a Guinean immigrant navigating the streets, stresses, and systems of modern Paris leading up to his asylum review hearing.
It’s the newest offering from award-winning French writer/director Boris Lojkine, no stranger to the unforgiving grit and grind of street-level life from his days as a documentarian.
But Lojkine is also no stranger to the migrant story. His fist narrative feature, “Hope,” followed two young Cameroonians traversing the Sahara toward Europe, and he’s said that, for years, he’s wanted to continue that theme by examining the immigrant experience after arriving.
“Souleymane’s Story” is that examination, zeroing in on the relentless work, study, connections, mistakes, and exploitations of immigration in the digital age as Souleymane is forced to keep up a kinetic schedule of bicycle-bound food delivery to scrape by.
Lojkine drops you right into the Parisian buzz, zipping through traffic with Souleymane and ratcheting up the tension and stress while also employing concealed cameras throughout to capture the true urban realism of the city.
But “Souleymane’s Story” is told primarily through the frantic – and already award-winning – performance of newcomer Abou Sangare, himself a Guinean immigrant that had never acted, and himself still a non-legal resident of Paris, bringing a rarified truth and emotional depth to the film.
There may be no stories more vital or important for the world right now than those that explore the heart and humanity of global immigration, and “Souleymane’s Story” has arguably raised the bar for the realism and truth with which that story can be told through film.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
‘Mystyerious Skin’ – Rodeo Cinema – September 18th
Few filmmakers have built a career on hyper-indie cinematic subversion quite like Gregg Araki.
After establishing himself as a countercultural voice in the 90s with his stylish and boundary-pushing entries like “The Doom Generation” and “Nowhere,” Araki set his sights on a more tragic and challenging story for 2004’s “Mysterious Skin.”
Produced on a notably small budget and starring the electrifying Joseph Gordon-Levitt alongside Brady Corbet (who would go on to write and direct last year’s Oscar-winning “The Brutalist,”) “Mysterious Skin” tackles the lifelong psychological traumas and tragedies of childhood sexual abuse.
Forgoing much of his previously honed stylishness and Gen X “cool,” Araki sought to handle the subject matter with appropriate gravity and stark truth, focusing on the common repression of memories and victims’ attempts to justify or excuse the experiences.
It’s an admittedly difficult and uncomfortable film, but one that seeks to dig to the core of a sadly too-common element of street-level life.
It was also one of the first films to feature Gordon-Levitt in such a dense, serious, and adult role, showcasing his remarkable talents and helping to launch one of the more intriguing and diverse acting careers in modern Hollywood.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit rodeocinema.org.
‘Caught Stealing’ – Now playing
Another of American cinema’s most subversive and hotly debated filmmaking minds, director Darren Aronofsky proved a knack for gritty, groundbreaking street-level storytelling early on with 2000’s drug addiction nightmare “Requiem for a Dream.”
But while that film retains its status as one of the greatest and most influential offerings in modern moviemaking, Aronosky’s career since has been divisive, difficult, and wonderfully unpredictable.
He’s directed two major Oscar-winning performances in two highly controversial films with Natalie Portman’s dark, obsessive turn in “Black Swan” and Brendan Fraser’s tragic, make-up covered comeback in “The Whale.” Along the way, he’s crafted everything from biblical epic “Noah” to the quietly grounded and heartbreaking “The Wrestler” and the criminally underrated time-spanning masterwork that is “The Fountain.”
This time out, he’s returning to the gritty, grungy city streets of 90s New York, but bringing along a to-this-point largely unexplored sense of humor and even flat-out fun, elements for which Aronofsky is decidedly not known.
“Caught Stealing” follows your an alcoholic, bartending, mostly average dude (played by the lately inescapable Austin Butler) who agrees to simply cat-sit for his punk rock anarchist apartment neighbor and ends up finding himself in the crosshairs of every element of NYC’s cross-cultural criminal underground.
It’s a welcome star turn for Butler, who continues his streak of partnering with the most subversive and challenging directors, but who gets to shine this time without a ridiculous accent, makeup, or high-concept supporting role, and it’s a surprising turn altogether for the usually dark and dour Aronofsky.
Plus, you get “Doctor Who” favorite Matt Smith with a foot-tall mohawk, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as a hilariously bearded mobster, and recent breakout Zoe Kravitz continuing to prove her ability to bring fiery chemistry to any on-screen pairing.
Of course, like always, the real star is the cat.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
