In the vast landscape of independent cinema, some films shout for your attention with explosive drama or high-concept gimmicks. Others, like the 2017 gem Princess Cyd , simply open a window and let in a quiet, life-affirming breeze. Directed by the prolific Stephen Cone ( Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party ), Princess Cyd is not a film about princesses, royalty, or fairy tales. Instead, it is a deeply humanist exploration of desire, grief, faith, and the awkward, beautiful transition from adolescence to adulthood.
: Cyd is physical and direct, navigating the world through her body; Miranda is intellectual and spiritual, finding fulfillment in solitude and literature. Princess Cyd
In the landscape of American independent cinema, the "coming-of-age" genre is often crowded with tropes: the manic pixie dream girl, the brooding misunderstood youth, or the life-altering road trip. It is rare to find a film that breathes as easily and lives as organically as Stephen Cone’s 2017 masterpiece, Princess Cyd . In the vast landscape of independent cinema, some
One of the most significant aspects of Princess Cyd is its rejection of the "coming out as coming of age" trope. Cyd’s exploration of her sexuality—specifically her attraction to a local barista named Katie (Ro White)—is presented without the typical hand-wringing or familial rejection. Instead, it is a deeply humanist exploration of
The film centers on the relationship between 16-year-old (Jessie Pinnick), an athletic and sexually curious teenager, and her aunt Miranda Ruth (Rebecca Spence), a renowned novelist living in Chicago.