Sour Minnows
Director(s): Harrison Atkins
Film description: Two friends stumble upon an unusual sight: six men sensually licking the pavement on an empty LA street. For Ricky, this moment ruptures something. As his reality grows porous, and his memories begin to slip and slide, he finds himself in contact with "The Yellow Thing," an entity that wears people like costumes. As Ricky adapts to his expanding worldview, a delirious new logic takes hold.
Preceded by “A Mighty Poison”
ERIC SAYS Harrison Atkins is one of those fascinating creative filmmakers who has found ways to thrive both in the industry and in the underground. His work as editor likely includes a film you’ve seen—Josephine Decker’s breakthrough Madeline’s Madeline, for instance, as well as the Aubrey Plaza thriller Emily the Criminal and the Glen Powell dark comedy How to Make a Killing. But coloring outside these lines, Atkins also has a wonderfully chaotic body of work, both as sole director and collaborator, in the realm of transgressive dark comedies (like his debut feature Lace Crater) and short films (many of which have screened at New/Next).
Sour Minnows is the crowning achievement of this thread of Atkins’ career thus far, a post-Lynch triumph of surreal comedy, psychological horror, and glitchy otherness. Starring Suzanna Son (Red Rocket) and festival fave David Brown (who may just hold the Guinness record for appearing in the most New/Next films), it offers the 2026 East L.A. answer to the midnight movies (from Eraserhead to Pink Flamingos) that powered underground cinema through the 1970s. Bravo!
Writer(s): Harrison Atkins
Producer(s): Sarah Winshall, Kate Banford, Allison Bunce, Mel Barnes, Anne Gormley, Suzanna Son, Harrison Atkins
Editor(s): Harrison Atkins
Country of origin: USA
Principal cast: David Brown, Suzanna Son, Chase Williamson, Julia Jones, Phil Burgers
Language: English
Year: 2026
Duration: 83 min
Premiere status: Maryland premiere
