One of the surprises of the 2026 Brooklyn Film Festival is Crystal Cross, a film that could have easily gone down the road of feeling incredibly derivative. Instead, it manages to take the familiar road trip formula and turn it into something far more thoughtful, placing its central characters on a parallel journey that becomes surprisingly philosophical.
Dottie, played by Rubyrose Hill, is an aspiring Christian rap artist determined to make her way to the West Coast and get into a recording studio. Along the way, she crosses paths with James, played by Richie James Follin, a terminally depressed man investigating assisted suicide. James isn’t physically dying, but after suffering a devastating loss, he feels like he might as well be.
The two set off together, moving from stop to stop while discussing their lives, religion, music, and whatever future may or may not be waiting for them. Dottie has plans. James does not.
What works so well is how the film pairs these two characters. It allows them to have theological conversations without ever becoming cloying or preachy. The film never feels interested in converting the audience, nor does it seem interested in pushing people away from faith. Dottie is deeply devoted to Jesus, even if she doesn’t always succeed in keeping herself away from temptation, and she worries that James’s plans could lead him toward eternal damnation. James, meanwhile, seems less in need of a theological debate than he is of someone like Dottie sitting in the passenger seat, injecting a little life back into his world.
Dottie enters the film with an energy that immediately changes the atmosphere. She reminded me a little of Mikey Madison in Anora, bringing a kind of feral-cat unpredictability that makes every scene more interesting. Follin keeps things relatively simple as a director, but the film’s greatest strength is clearly its cast. There is one scene where Dottie recounts a wild experience she had while traveling in Europe, and Follin cuts away from her during part of the story. I’m not convinced that was necessary. Sometimes the smartest thing a director can do is recognize when a performer has the audience completely locked in. Last year, Daniel Day-Lewis delivered a lengthy monologue in Anemone, and the film understood that the most captivating thing it could do was simply let him talk. The same principle applies here. She is enough.
My grade may be a little generous. The film currently lacks audio description, and there are several scenes where the storytelling relies on visual information rather than dialogue, leaving me uncertain about exactly what was happening. That said, the scenes surrounding those moments are strong enough that I suspect if everything were fully accessible, the film would work even better.
Crystal Cross features strong performances, a heartfelt story, and a road trip worth taking. It’s an engaging and thoughtful film that is certainly worth your time.
Fresh: 7.7/10
