Beach Rats

Beach Rats

Winner of the Directing Award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Beach Rats is a raw and atmospheric coming-of-age story that captures the restless confusion of youth and desire. Set on the fringes of Brooklyn, it follows Frankie (Harris Dickinson), a teenager caught between the expectations of his friends, the pressures of masculinity, and the secrets of his private life online.

Writer-director Eliza Hittman brings her signature lyricism and empathy to a world rarely shown with such honesty. The film’s intimate cinematography and natural performances evoke both tenderness and unease, depicting a young man’s struggle to reconcile identity and belonging.

Moody, understated, and beautifully observed, Beach Rats is a portrait of vulnerability in disguise—a story of longing, repression, and the quiet ache of trying to understand oneself in a world that demands certainty.

Screening With:

The Promise

Student Shorts Showcase

Two men dance in an open field, jumping from reality to dream as each follows his own path.

6 mins
Canada, 2016
Dir. Jason Karman
Language: English