‘Bull’ Offers Friendship, Humanity, at a Cost

Theaters are closed, movies delayed, and access to press screenings are limited to streaming. There’s no better time to highlight smaller films — amazing movies without the big-studio marketing budget that makes it harder for you to find. Discover a new film festival darling and support new, emerging, and independent filmmakers. Sheltering in place doesn’t need to stop you from your weekend evening escape to the movies. Follow the flurry of upcoming reviews on Twitter, or find all my reviews for movies you can stream from right at home. Rural Texas lays the backdrop for Bull, a debut film by director Annie Silverstein, co-written with Johnny McAllister. Its star is a young girl named Kris, played by Amber Havard, a quiet, high school-aged girl whose teenage years are less about school dances and more about the sobering responsibilities familiar to anyone raised poor: raising your siblings, helping around the house, navigating the ever-present opportunities for trouble that can shatter the thin ice beneath your feet, landing you homeless or in prison. Kris’ mother fell into the latter, as Kris visits her regularly, embarrassed to share the trouble she found herself in at school or learn more about their dire financial straits. Havard’s portrayal is genuine and strong as she captures Kris’ awkward, quiet crossroads between girlhood and womanhood: wanting to impress boys but not knowing how, wanting to help her family but not knowing how, wanting to navigate life but not knowi…