NOW ON TUBI! For a decade-old indie oddity that deserves another look, go check out the unusual neo-noir Videola, written by Gary O. Bennett and directed by Alyssa Rallo Bennett. Gail Moody (Sean Young) still owns a video store somewhere in New York City, but no one ever comes in anymore. Her son, Sean (Gil Zabarsky), keeps trying to talk to his mother about how it may be time to shut down. Gail keeps refusing, insisting that the store is doing fine. She has stopped issuing paychecks and is now paying Gil in cash, with no indication where it is coming from. She also gives cash to her daughter Joyce (Sam Rothermel), even though she doesn’t work at the video store.
Joyce is currently searching for her twin sister, Laura, who has disappeared. Gil talks about the store’s troubles and how sketchy this whole cash payment situation is with his girlfriend, Heather (Adrienne Pluta), the witch. The witch has no problem with cash payments, but agrees to investigate with Gil further to see where his mother is getting this money from and search for the missing sister.
Sean Young as Gail Moody in Videola (2016).
“Gail Moody still owns a video store somewhere in New York City, but no one ever comes in anymore.”
Meanwhile, Nyla (Alexia Martin) , the ex-roommate of Laura, has gotten herself entangled with the illegal network run by the mysterious Director (Michael Pemberton). The Director has a lethal protege, the deadly Olive (Taylor Pfenning), that he is going to use as his black knight on the invisible chessboard of hard drugs that everyone doesn’t know they live on.
Videola is a TV pilot from 2016 that was not picked up for a series order. That itself shouldn’t be a disqualifier, as David Lynch’s highly regarded Mulholland Drive was also a TV pilot that wasn’t picked up. As luck would have it, the film displays a heavy Lynchian influence, which takes on a new light after that master’s passing.
"…like a burnt Christmas tree that still has great ornaments on its blackened branches. "
Thank you for this really compassionate and Truffautian review! We so appreciate it. The truth is we didn’t know how to get our work around back then or get into rooms to pitch the series as a pilot – we just knew how to make what we wrote and created and have a very unique film studio that has a residency program – the Stonestreet Studios Screen Acting & Production Residency Program for NYU Tisch Drama of which some of the younger emerging actors came from. It won best pilot at the Hoboken Film Festival when it was still a festival. We’re starting to get our work out there more and reivews like this might just make a difference! Thank you and Happy 2026!