''Riley'' is a 2023 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by Benjamin Howard in his feature film debut. The film stars Jake Holley, Colin McCalla, Riley Quinn Scott, Connor Storrie and

Rib Hillis Robert Duane Hillis (born November 21, 1970) is an American model and actor. He is best known for playing Hamilton ("Hamm") in the film '' Sharktopus vs. Pteraconda''. Early life and career Robert Duane Hillis was born in Suffern, New York, and ...

. The film screened at Calgary International Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival where it was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Plot

Dakota Riley's life of being a high school jock becomes complicated once he discovers that he identifies as queer.

Cast

Production

The film is Howard's feature film debut and is

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

, with the film being based on his own experience as a

student athlete A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

. It was crowdfunded with the help of Seed&Spark and

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in East County, San Diego.

Release

''Riley'' held its world premiere at Calgary International Film Festival on September 24, 2023. The US premiere took place at Bend Film Festival in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...

. It later screened at San Diego Film Week,

Sedona International Film Festival The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual, eight-day film festival in Sedona, Arizona. The festival was founded in 1994. The Sedona Film Festival screens feature films, documentary films, short films, animated films, and student ...

, San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, and Florida Film Festival. The European premiere was held at BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in 2024.

Reception

Critical response

Vidal Dcosta at The Movie Buff gave the film an A+ claiming it "excels at tackling multiple issues that plague the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

." Ris Fatah at Queerguru scored the film 9/10 and said "Howard's feature-length drama is an impressive, authentic debut." Rich Cline at Shadows on the Wall scored it 4 out of 5, saying "as the drama gets increasingly serious, the film grabs hold powerfully. So even if things begin to turn a bit melodramatic, there's truth in the way the story plays out." Neil Baker at Cinerama Film praised the screenplay as it "captures a realism rarely seen in coming-of-age,

coming-out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

movies." Josh Winning at

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

scored it 3 out of 5 saying it has "sincere and beautifully shot exploration of young people figuring out their place in the world."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, m/riley
Interview with Holley
at ECHO American coming-of-age drama films 2020s high school films 2023 directorial debut films 2023 drama films High school football films American teen LGBT-related films American teen drama films Films about juvenile sexuality 2020s English-language films 2020s LGBT-related drama films Films set in San Diego Films shot in San Diego Films directed by Benjamin Howard 2023 LGBT-related films Films about gender Semi-autobiographical films