Cheltenham International Film Festival
Cora Bora - part of the Cheltenham International Film Festival
This screening forms part of Cheltenham International Film Festival, which marks its 5th anniversary in 2023. The festival will screen new films from around the world, plus film classics and is adding television, and new live events to its programme, along with guest celebrities.
A chaotic comedy of embarrassments with a warm heart and a gender-neutral dog.
Cora is a struggling singer songwriter trying to make a go of it in LA. When she suspects that her long-distance open relationship girlfriend is seeing someone else, she ups sticks and returns to her Portland home to make reparations, creating chaos at every turn.
Featuring a wrecking ball of a performance from rising star Megan Stalter and a hilarious script from writer / director Hannah Pearl Utt, its great fun watching the delusional Cora blunder through this comedy of social embarrassments. Reminiscent of a young Melissa Mcarthy, her endearingly wonky songs also bring Pheobe from Friends to mind – you might expect a rendition of Smelly Cat to pop up at some point, but it turns out she is more of a dog person – gender neutral of course! The humour can be quite outlandish at times, but for all bluster that surrounds Cora, she also has a warmth and vulnerability that keeps us rooting for her.
A clever and genuinely touching twist on the rom-com trope of a grand romantic gesture. The Hollywood Reporter