The Baltimorons

In this SXSW Audience Award winner, a dental mishap plays cupid for a washed-up comedian and a disillusioned dentist on a life-changing Christmas Eve.

En route to a Yuletide dinner, thirtysomething Cliff – who’s recently quit both alcohol and the comedy scene, to his fiancée’s relief – trips over and chips a tooth. After several failed enquiries, he manages to set an appointment with dentist Didi, a middle-aged divorcee who’s begrudgingly spending her holidays stuck at work. One repaired tooth and a towed car later, the pair are bonding over war stories and backing each other up on petty mischiefs and payback, each little victory building up to a night that will change their lives forever.

Winner of the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award at SXSW, The Baltimorons is the solo feature directorial debut of Jay Duplass (one half of a renowned indie filmmaking duo alongside his brother, Mark). Duplass co-wrote the film with lead actor Michael Strassner, who based the film’s setup on his own experiences; Strassner dives into Cliff’s endearing ineffectuality and filter-free silliness with gusto, providing a droll counterpart to the cynical but ultimately fragile guardedness of Liz Larsen’s Didi. Rounded out with dreamy, postcard-perfect images of wintry Baltimore and a joyous soundtrack of jazzified holiday classics, this uplifting crowdpleaser offers audiences the very gifts its central twosome bestow on one another: a reminder to laugh, and a hopefulness that fills the heart.

“The feel-good movie of 2025 has arrived … It’s thrilling to watch two strangers truly see each other, and mutually delight in that discovery.” – Mashable