I Live Here Now [Fantasia 2025 Review]

by Mike McGranaghan

I Live Here Now is a perfect example of why it’s important to have a wide diversity of voices in filmmaking. This is a story that could only be conceived and executed by a woman. Its themes will resonate with female viewers. As for the guys, they might develop some insight into the sorts of issues women deal with. Writer/director Julie Pacino’s debut feature, which screened at Fantasia 2025, comes from a place of sincerity and passion, even as it revels in hallucinogenic madness.

Struggling actress Rose (Lucy Fry) is on the cusp of landing a big audition. Then she discovers that she’s pregnant – a situation she believed was not possible due to a past trauma. When she breaks the news to her casual boyfriend Travis (Matt Rife), he insists that she meet with his mother Martha (Sheryl Lee). That meeting does not go well, causing Rose to flee to a mysterious hotel where she encounters a controlling manager, a mousy employee, and another guest named Lillian (Cam’s Madeline Brewer) who is alternately confrontational and flirtatious.

What happens next is hard to describe, and I wouldn’t want to anyway because that would take away some of I Live Here Now’s pleasures. I can, however, safely say that the line between reality and nightmare becomes severely blurred, leaving Rose unsure of what’s actually happening to her. In taking this mind-bending approach, Pacino delves into Rose’s quest for agency. The insecure character has a lot of people in her life telling her what to do, and the only way out of this hellish scenario is to seize control for herself. That, in turn, requires handling each of the other women in the hotel in a different manner.

A pregnancy at the core of the plot points viewers in a certain direction, although there’s a lot more to it. The film touches on themes of trauma, the pressure on women to achieve physical perfection, and the desire to be respected in a relationship, among other things. Pacino has a sharp perspective on all of it, ensuring that you don’t watch passively. Her color scheme adds to the impact. I Live Here Now leans heavily – and metaphorically – on pink and deep red hues to make the hotel seem alternately lush and menacing.

Lucy Fry does exceptional work as Rose, conveying this woman’s arc from self-doubt to self-confidence. The best scenes are the ones she shares with the equally good Madeline Brewer, who keeps Lillian’s true motives in doubt the whole time. And Sheryl Lee as the uber-manipulative mother? What a genius stroke of casting, given she earned her fame playing the victimized Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks. Lee clearly relishes the chance to be on the other side of that equation.

With strong performances and an alluring tone, I Live Here Now is a bold, provocative work that celebrates feminine strength.

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