The Round House

Mississippi, after World War II. Two families, one Black and one white, share land and a hard rural life. Two sons come home from the war, one from each, and become friends in a place that cannot allow it. Rees adapted Hillary Jordan's novel and tells it from six voices, so the inequality of the land and the war gets said plainly, by everyone in turn.

Why it’s here: It's a film about what the war gave and what the South took back. What's punk is how it refuses a rescuer: every character gets their say, and the ending lands anyway. What's pedagogical is the six-voice structure, which makes you notice who is allowed to narrate. Pairs with Beloved, Invisible Man and The Warmth of Other Suns. Note: R-rated; racist violence and a lynching threat, and a sexual assault scene; older teens and adults. English.

Alike is seventeen, a poet in Brooklyn, and slowly telling herself she is a lesbian. At home, her mother watches her closely and her father looks away, while at school she tries to figure out who she can be. Rees expanded her own short film into a debut about faith, family and the work of coming out while still living at home.

Why it’s here: It's a film about a teen who writes her way into herself. What's punk is that nobody rescues Alike except Alike and a poem. What's pedagogical is how closely it watches a family that loves her and can't cope. Pairs with Funny Boy, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and The Poet X. Note: R-rated; homophobic harassment and a violent scene between mother and daughter; older teens and adults. English.