"Smart, funny, and perceptive."
- Shotgun Cinema
- Shotgun Cinema
"...an entirely different, newly exciting beast. Cheerleader is a surprisingly dark comedy that repurposes the subversive bubblegum pop of 90s teen movies for a quietly surreal fantasy piece. The film exists in a cartoon reality of its own outside time & logic and uses familiar teen comedy beats to establish a darkly surreal mood and a tender mode of complete emotional devastation. It’s subtly brilliant, quietly intricate, and deserves the mass attention of wide distribution, especially considering the way it evokes an era of currently bankable nostalgia by reimagining instead of merely mimicking."
- Brandon Ledet (Swampflix.com)
- Brandon Ledet (Swampflix.com)
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"...Speaking of stars on the rise, Irving Franco may be one of the most unique and intriguing new voices in indie film."
- Jeremy Burgess (AL.com) |
"One of the best indies to grace the festival circuit in some time, Irving Franco's feature debut possesses all the style and polish you would find in Nicolas Winding Refn's best work. Both visually and emotionally magnetic."
- Cameron McAllister (Reelga.com) |
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"Watching Irving Franco's Cheerleader is like reading the homecoming queen's diary. There are moments of vacuity and narcissism but also of pain, longing, and insight..."
- Cole Waterman (Mlive.com) |
"...a film that moves in small waves. It's a film that moves almost in slow motion. It quietly works its way into your emotional subconscious—in the way that you might walk from the shallow end of a pool to its deeper, thicker parts, without realizing it, until you feel yourself being hugged by the water."
- Ali Coad (Reelga.com) |
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"...a brilliantly insane style piece, but with a surprising amount of heart. It feels like a collision of The Virgin Suicides and Election, but, at the same time, is wholly its own film. You won’t find anything else like it in the line-up. It's a stylish fever dream surrounded by a thoughtful narrative... one or the other would have made the film lovable enough to program, but, considering it has both, it's pretty close to perfect. I have a major crush on this film. Major."
- Rachel Morgan (Sidewalk Film Festival) |
"Roaring straight out of the Full House era like a Dexatrim-and-Tab-fueled daydream, Cheerleader pops the pink plastic padlock off the mind of Mickey... With a keen ear for the poignant absurdity of teenagers waxing philosophical, Cheerleader opens up like a toybox full of day-glo treasures, all the while counting the steep emotional cost of an acne-free adolescence."
- Jon Kieran (New Orleans Film Festival) |
"…a carefully-crafted coming-of-age story that tenderly crosses once insurmountable borders in this well-trodden genre, delivering an intimate portrayal of what it is to be Mickey…
…you might think you have it all figured out in the first fifteen minutes… But that is not where Franco takes us, instead pushing back on expectations hard, rerouting us to a place few films have gone before. You’re whole approach to CHEERLEADER transforms the more time you spend with it.
…while I’m never much of a fan for such things, the way Franco slips it (narration as commentary) in is smart and endearing, giving us a deeper invitation into the haunts within…
…Mickey the most devastatingly complex teenage character to come along in a long time, with Blades pitch perfect from frame one, is truly compelling.
This is not mainstream filmmaking, and be glad it’s not. Franco takes big chances with tempo, music, intimacy, and consequences.
CHEERLEADER is a unique experience, avoiding the same boring platitudes of teen romance movies, Franco and his cast building something well into the peripheral. It’s authentic and traumatizing. And it works. Highly recommended.”
- David Duprey (That Moment In)
…you might think you have it all figured out in the first fifteen minutes… But that is not where Franco takes us, instead pushing back on expectations hard, rerouting us to a place few films have gone before. You’re whole approach to CHEERLEADER transforms the more time you spend with it.
…while I’m never much of a fan for such things, the way Franco slips it (narration as commentary) in is smart and endearing, giving us a deeper invitation into the haunts within…
…Mickey the most devastatingly complex teenage character to come along in a long time, with Blades pitch perfect from frame one, is truly compelling.
This is not mainstream filmmaking, and be glad it’s not. Franco takes big chances with tempo, music, intimacy, and consequences.
CHEERLEADER is a unique experience, avoiding the same boring platitudes of teen romance movies, Franco and his cast building something well into the peripheral. It’s authentic and traumatizing. And it works. Highly recommended.”
- David Duprey (That Moment In)
"...fun as hell, and is impressively consistent for an indie flick"
"...a great example of how to do a female led film right. It dives into the mind and thoughts of a teenage girl in a way that feels genuine."
"...Cheerleader is a fun, well-crafted, and extraordinarily promising film, the kind that moviegoers ought to be supporting and seeking out. I am certain that Franco and Blades both have interesting futures ahead of them, and I'm already on the hook for whatever they each decide to do next."
- Harper Harris (Geekrex.com)
"...a great example of how to do a female led film right. It dives into the mind and thoughts of a teenage girl in a way that feels genuine."
"...Cheerleader is a fun, well-crafted, and extraordinarily promising film, the kind that moviegoers ought to be supporting and seeking out. I am certain that Franco and Blades both have interesting futures ahead of them, and I'm already on the hook for whatever they each decide to do next."
- Harper Harris (Geekrex.com)
"One of my festival favorites from back in 2016 is finally available to rent or own digitally, Irving Franco’s directorial debut Cheerleader! It’s a movie that has never really left my thoughts over the last couple years, one that I’ve been dying to rewatch and be able to recommend to friends since it premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival. You can check out my original review here.
Cheerleader is a super stylish film that dives headlong into its 1980s setting, lavishly costumed and decorated to bring a neon sensibility to its time period. Catherine Blades is fantastic as the titular cheerleader Mickey, and her inner monologue will break your heart. While most of the characters have starting points as prototypical high schoolers, they end up all feeling like they have rich inner lives. On a new viewing, I was really struck by how tight the narrative is, in terms of both script and editing; it's got a short runtime of 69 minutes, and never drags for even a second. The score, composed by Franco and Michael Grazi (now available on Spotify!), is another highlight, really giving the film a dreamy feel akin to Air's score to The Virgin Suicides.
This has been one of those treasured movie finds that has stuck with me over the last few years, and I'm thrilled that those who missed it on the festival circuit now have a chance to dive into Mickey's world."
- Harper Harris (Geekrex.com)
Cheerleader is a super stylish film that dives headlong into its 1980s setting, lavishly costumed and decorated to bring a neon sensibility to its time period. Catherine Blades is fantastic as the titular cheerleader Mickey, and her inner monologue will break your heart. While most of the characters have starting points as prototypical high schoolers, they end up all feeling like they have rich inner lives. On a new viewing, I was really struck by how tight the narrative is, in terms of both script and editing; it's got a short runtime of 69 minutes, and never drags for even a second. The score, composed by Franco and Michael Grazi (now available on Spotify!), is another highlight, really giving the film a dreamy feel akin to Air's score to The Virgin Suicides.
This has been one of those treasured movie finds that has stuck with me over the last few years, and I'm thrilled that those who missed it on the festival circuit now have a chance to dive into Mickey's world."
- Harper Harris (Geekrex.com)
"Every generation has their set of coming of age movies, films about characters that ring true and which speak to certain people in very profound ways, and for some out there, “Cheerleader” could be one of those movies. A coming of age type of story about a young girl trying to figure out her own way, this is a confidently made movie which dares to be great at times, almost like a 2016 version of “Heathers” but with the emotional truths of the best of John Hughes."
- Chris Crespo (Cinema Crespodiso)
- Chris Crespo (Cinema Crespodiso)
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"Comedic euphoria... I want to swim around in Franco's mind. At some points I felt drugged... Blades is a revelation.
The script is so smart, and so strong, that you could probably have put somebody else in her role and it still would have worked, but she is so integral to selling this vision... That look in her eyes (that I can only describe as fiery emptiness) sears into you, drawing you into her simple mind. I never wanted to leave her inner monologue behind (and would love to bring it with me everywhere)." - Ian J Cunningham (Letterboxd Review) |
"Cheerleader is a quasi sepia-toned, satirical dreamscape, that sits square in the middle of a Venn diagram of genre film. Perfectly nailing the look and feel of a John Hughes classic, with a sort of Kubrick-esque visual approach. This film carries an air of authenticity, some solid performances and a tight runtime that doesn't veer too far from its objective, Cheerleader is a surprisingly intelligent and subversive commentary on teenage drama. The composition of the film is visually pleasing, and the narrative is character driven, as the film is starred with nuances that illicit sincere emotional responses. This is an impressive Indie, that bodes well for freshman filmmaker - Irving Franco's future."
- Eric Fetterman (Bro Knows Movies) |
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"I freakin love this film! I'm honored, thrilled and excited to have it in the 2016 line-up!"
- Charlie Sanders (Sidewalk Film Festival) |
"The film’s aesthetics are magical!"
- Nicole Cohen (Sketch42) |
“First off, I’m absolutely thrilled with how well you captured the voice of Mickey in this piece. From start to finish, virtually every line feels authentic, not just in the way that Mickey speaks, but in the things she both knowingly and unknowingly reveals to us. In the first two paragraphs we get a look inside the head of the eponymous “cheerleader”, and it more or less fulfills our stereotyped imagination. But I knew you had really captured something when I read the line “from the beginning beginning”; from that point I could hear her voice, not just the generic cheerleader speaking. As the story continued, with every paragraph this not-too-bright, fairly shallow and naïve girl, allowed to speak in her own voice, transforms herself from an object of laughter to one that I felt great sympathy for. Mickey’s humanity, who she was and how she got that way, shines through-but without you ever having her say something that she would never say, or do anything out of character. Yet, the writing is still humorous all the way through.
The fact that everything is a degree of “like” (I liked that; I didn’t like that) shows us her worldview; the “Love Nest” bit is so subtle and sad. Her revelation that her mom makes her put on lipstick, and then picking that thread up when Buttons asks her if she was wearing lipstick and she gets “all embarrassed for a second but it wasn’t weird”; the interior “slut” chant; and the whole final conversation between Buttons and Mickey (with the perfect detail of her “drawing hearts in my notebook like crazy”)—just a great job of gradually developing her character as the story progressed.
...A truly great story you have here. Funny, sad, original, satirical, and human. Good work.”
– Thomas Carlisle (Brooklyn College Creative Writing)
The fact that everything is a degree of “like” (I liked that; I didn’t like that) shows us her worldview; the “Love Nest” bit is so subtle and sad. Her revelation that her mom makes her put on lipstick, and then picking that thread up when Buttons asks her if she was wearing lipstick and she gets “all embarrassed for a second but it wasn’t weird”; the interior “slut” chant; and the whole final conversation between Buttons and Mickey (with the perfect detail of her “drawing hearts in my notebook like crazy”)—just a great job of gradually developing her character as the story progressed.
...A truly great story you have here. Funny, sad, original, satirical, and human. Good work.”
– Thomas Carlisle (Brooklyn College Creative Writing)
"Cheerleader evokes a sense of 90’s nostalgia via its archetypical characters (e.g. the Gossip Queen, the Head Cheerleader, the Jock, the Nerd), vibrant color blocking and a transformation plotline. However, the underlying dark tone of the film is a revolutionary differentiation as main character Mickey undergoes a mental unraveling while coping with the loss of her first love and the shock when she discovers the truth about who she really loves.
The film takes a journey through Mickey’s adolescent psyche in the humorous, enthralling and deeply heart-wrenching first-person narrative. Cheerleader, a story about adolescent self-discovery, tells a different type of coming of age laden with heartache, peer-pressure, insecurity, empathy and a heart-rending conclusion. Although nostalgic of films in the past, Cheerleader is an entirely unique telling of teenage anguish with which people of all ages can relate."
- Amanda Godman (Winter Film Awards)
The film takes a journey through Mickey’s adolescent psyche in the humorous, enthralling and deeply heart-wrenching first-person narrative. Cheerleader, a story about adolescent self-discovery, tells a different type of coming of age laden with heartache, peer-pressure, insecurity, empathy and a heart-rending conclusion. Although nostalgic of films in the past, Cheerleader is an entirely unique telling of teenage anguish with which people of all ages can relate."
- Amanda Godman (Winter Film Awards)
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