Phillip Philadelphia

Crude, lust-riddled and brilliantly cracked, this Gold Coast–set fever dream is the latest twisted caper from maverick auteur Adam C. Briggs.

Introduced languishing in a faded motel, the eponymous Phillip is a Brit and by trade a screenwriter, though he’s not doing much writing these days. He’s more interested in frittering his time away, pursuing flights of fantasy and intoxicating indulgences even as the line between the two grows ever fuzzier. In this, he’s aided and abetted by an aspiring actor with whom he’s enjoying a dalliance – though Phillip suspects the younger man might be mainly interested in his showbiz connections – and the drug dealer next door.

The prolific and indefatigable Briggs has often worked closely with non-professional actors to craft narratives whose blends of fact and fiction are as riotous as they are discomforting; he previously garnered acclaim for his 2024 feature A Grand Mockery (co-directed with and starring Sam Dixon, who also appears in this film in a supporting role), which took out top honours at SXSW Sydney as well as the Best Director prize at Sitges. With Phillip Philadelphia, the Meanjin-born writer/director captures the garish, grubby beauty of the Gold Coast on 16mm, evoking Florida as seen through the lenses of Harmony Korine and Sean Baker yet also extending his own distinctively homegrown, eloquently vulgar style.

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