Grant Swanson

On a scouting trip in the 1990s, a volatile teenager expresses secret feelings for another boy. When he’s rejected, he’ll go to dark lengths to keep his secret hidden.

Body dysmorphia is a subject rarely tackled in film. The irrational beliefs about appearance that sufferers experience, along with the self-conscious anxieties that comes with it, are such fertile grounds for genre exploration. Writing and directing from first-hand experience with this destabilizing illness, Grant Swanson has made a demonically disturbing standout that addresses it in uncompromising terms in DYSMORPHIC, which will be closing this year’s showcase. A film about modern dating. To a point.