Name: Independent visions present: Gazer at the Electric Palace
Start: 2026-01-29T19:30:00+00:00
End: 2026-01-29T21:30:00+00:00
Location: 39A High Street, TN34 3ER Hastings, United Kingdom

Independent visions present: Gazer at the Electric Palace

Desperate to provide for her young daughter, Frankie, a single mother with a rare condition that affects her ability to perceive time, accepts a risky high-paying job that plunges her into a shadowy noir world filled with conspiracies and lies.
Shot on grainy 16mm, it has that rare, electric quality where every frame feels alive and slightly dangerous. It's a noir, sort of, but more like a fever dream that borrows the paranoia of the '70s and fuses it with something modern and unpredictable.
Ariella Mastroianni is phenomenal. Her performance is raw and utterly magnetic. A performance that makes you forget you're watching a performance at all. The story itself is lean and taut, but what really sticks is the atmosphere, which is tense, strange, and darkly funny in moments you don't expect. To distinguish truth from fiction, she stops at nothing to fight for her daughter while her own mental state fractures into nightmares. Selected for Directors' Fortnight in Cannes in 2024.
"A fascinatingly uneasy debut from Ryan J Sloan has hints of Lynch and Cronenberg with star and co-writer Ariella Mastroianni radiating suppressed anguish and rage", Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Independent Visions is a regular film night championing modern independent North American cinema.
Working in partnership with Brighton-based film distributors, Bulldog https://bulldog-film.com/we will bring you monthly screenings showcasing the newest must-sees as well as the recent greats and cult hits you might have missed. Each film screening will be hosted by Philip Hoile, charismatic cinephile and independent film expert, and include on-stage or zoom intros or interviews with these contemporary filmmakers destined to become the indie auteurs of the future - plus attendees have the chance of getting their hands on free merch and posters!