Riley (film)

Riley is a 2023 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Benjamin Howard in his feature film debut. The film stars Jake Holley, Colin McCalla, Riley Quinn Scott, Connor Storrie and Rib Hillis.

The film screened at Calgary International Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival where it was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Plot
Dakota Riley's life of being a high school jock becomes complicated once he discovers that he identifies as queer.

Production
The film is Howard's feature film debut and based on his own experience as a student athlete. It was crowdfunded with the help of Seed&Spark and principal photography took place in East County, San Diego.

Release
Riley held its world premiere at Calgary International Film Festival on September 24, 2023. The US premiere took place at Bend Film Festival in Bend, Oregon. It later screened at San Diego Film Week, Sedona International Film Festival, San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, and Florida Film Festival. The European premiere was held at BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in 2024.

Critical response
Vidal Dcosta at The Movie Buff gave the film an A+ claiming it "excels at tackling multiple issues that plague the protagonist." Ris Fatah at Queerguru scored the film 9/10 and said "Howard's feature-length drama is an impressive, authentic debut." Rich Cline at Shadows on the Wall scored it 4 out of 5, saying "as the drama gets increasingly serious, the film grabs hold powerfully. So even if things begin to turn a bit melodramatic, there's truth in the way the story plays out." Neil Baker at Cinerama Film praised the screenplay as it "captures a realism rarely seen in coming-of-age, coming-out movies." Josh Winning at Radio Times scored it 3 out of 5 saying it has "sincere and beautifully shot exploration of young people figuring out their place in the world."