At first glance, The Anna Game sounds like it might be another crime-adjacent thriller, but director Jamie Grefe has something far stranger and more introspective on his mind. This is a film less interested in plot mechanics than emotional drift, using magical realism to explore boredom, regret, and the quiet terror of asking whether your life actually means anything. It is an ambitious, sometimes uneven, but undeniably sincere piece of work that wears its heart right on its sleeve.

The story centers on Anna, the wealthy and restless daughter of a mob family, who wanders into a local movie theater and stumbles into something far more transformative than escapism. What unfolds is a layered narrative that pulls her into the life of Carl, a divorced artist suffocating under the weight of his past choices. Carl’s story becomes a mirror, reflecting Anna’s own emptiness back at her in ways she cannot ignore. The film leans heavily into theatricality and Shakespearean influence, blending grounded despair with moments of magic, hope, and spiritual searching.

Jamie Grefe, who also stars as Carl, gives a raw and deeply personal performance that anchors the film’s more abstract impulses. Bryan Brewer, Jay Hewlett, and the rest of the ensemble help flesh out a world that feels deliberately heightened, almost stage-like at times, but emotionally earnest throughout. Sofia Studenikina’s Fairy Girl character is emblematic of the film’s tone, existing somewhere between symbol and story, never fully explained but emotionally intuitive.

Shot in Santa Clarita and Culver City and produced with an emphasis on immersive sound and visual presentation, The Anna Game feels like a passion project in the truest sense. It may not work for viewers looking for a conventional suspense thriller, despite how it is marketed, but those willing to meet it on its own wavelength may find something quietly moving. This is a film about being haunted by who you were, unsure of who you are, and still daring to believe there might be another way forward.

Jessie Hobson

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