Megan McLachlan is in Savannah, Ga., covering the 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival that runs through Saturday, November 1.

Brrr. Greetings from a chilly Savannah. This is my sixth SCAD Savannah Film Festival, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been colder (currently typing this while wearing my hotel bathrobe). The weather has been overcast, but that hasn’t kept SCAD students and movie enthusiasts from the festival. There are lines wrapped around the door for nearly every screening.

I arrived Monday night to what I’m calling Best Actress Fest 2026, because audiences were treated to three 2026 Best Actress contenders: Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee, Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and Sydney Sweeney in Christy. I’ve seen two of them (still need to see Christy), and both Seyfried and Byrne are fantastic. (Look for my interview with Legs director Mary Bronstein soon!)

Amanda Seyfried Receives SCAD Vanguard Award for The Testament of Ann Lee

“Does anything scare you?”

I loved this question for Amanda Seyfried from Gold Derby’s Editor-in-Chief Debra Birnbaum in the Q&A following Ann Lee. Because honestly, that’s what I was thinking after watching the film. Seyfried is a fearless actress, and Ann Lee is the kind of epic reserved for male actors. This is a complicated figure that Seyfried described as “nuts but also very cool.”

“Mona told me she trusted me,” said Seyfried of taking on the role, “and I think after thinking about it for a week, I decided the best thing I could do for me is to trust myself as well. When someone you trust thinks you’re right for something, they might just be right about that, and you might have to go full force ahead. This movie is not for the faint of heart.”

The more I think about Ann Lee, the more I like it. At times, it feels like you’re watching a documentary about the first female cult leader; at other times, it’s a character study of a woman ruined by sex. It’s an actor’s dream.

Will Arnett Levels Up with an Acting and Writing Showcase in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?

I’ve been a huge Will Arnett fan for more than 20 years, and it’s so great to see him breaking out of his goofy shell for some really compelling work in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? On Wednesday, October 28, he received the Luminary Award at the Lucas Theater for the Arts ahead of a screening of the film.

Arnett plays Alex Novak, a divorcee who decides on a whim to try stand-up comedy — and falls in love with it. All while mining through new family dynamics with his kids and ex-wife Tess (Laura Dern). Cooper pulls double-duty by also playing his stoner friend, nicknamed Balls.

Is This Thing On? should not be as good as it is, but it really works with a tight script and cast. I also love that for as technically ambitious as Maestro was, this Cooper film is dynamic in a completely different way, tackling middle-age ennui with a unique eye. We’ve seen similar premises, but this feels very fresh and new, maybe because Arnett is showing us a different side of himself. And maybe because Cooper is, too!

I would love to see an Original Screenplay nomination for Arnett and co-writers Mark Chappell and John Bishop. The script is more than a midlife crisis plot and really has a lot going for it.

Natchez Documentary Explores a Mississippi Town with a Complicated Past…and Present

Susannah Herbert’s Natchez is a fascinating deep dive into a Mississippi town with a population of 14,000 and

the Pilgrimage Garden Club plantation home tours. In Herbert’s doc, we meet the people who own these homes, tour drivers like Rev who share the complicated history of the town, and of course the tourists and residents, too. In the Q&A following the film, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Scott Feinberg described it as Altman-esque, like Nashville, which is what Herbert was going for.

“Growing up in Memphis, there are plantations all around,” said Herbert. “I wanted to explore how people stay and use these spaces for their profit and enjoyment.”

She ended up living in Natchez for 75 days and gained unfiltered access to this little pocket of a town. It’s one of my favorite documentaries of the year for its airy cinematography (it almost feels like a dream) and seamless storytelling.

SCAD Savannah Film Festival continues through November 1.