SIFF 2015 Opening Night: Spy

Prepare for an onslaught of pratfalls, as the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival gets things started with Melissa McCarthy starring in the action comedy Spy. Written and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat, and the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot), the movie finds McCarthy playing a C.I.A. desk jockey who must go into the field and tap into her inner James Bond to thwart a villain (Rose Byrne) trying to sell nukes to terrorists. Luckily, she's aided in her bumbling journey by fellow spies played by Jason Statham and Jude Law.

Screening: May 14 at 7, McCaw Hall, $50–$250

The Connection

It took more than four decades, but there's finally an unofficial French answer to William Friedkin's 1971 classic The French Connection. Jean Dujardin (The Artist) stars in The Connection, a police thriller that follows French cop  Pierre Michel as he tries to take down the booming drug trade at the same time that Popeye Doyle was fictionally searching for justice in the States. But while Friedkin presented an ultra gritty portrayal of New York City, The Connection director Cédric Jimenez presents France in lush, vivid colors that contrast the surrounding chaos.

Screenings: May 15 at 9:30, SIFF Cinema Uptown, $13 / May 17 at 1:30, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, $13

Frame by Frame

Under Taliban rule, photography was illegal in Afghanistan. After the country's liberation in 2001, a photographic revolution began to spring fourth and fuel a new journalistic freedom. Frame by Frame follows four Afghan photographers who are attempting to frame their homeland in a true light. But it's not easy, as they constantly live in fear of their freedom of expression once again vanishing after the withdrawal of foreign troops. Directors Alexandria Bombach and Mo Scarpelli are scheduled to attend all three screenings.

Screenings: May 16 at 10am, AMC Pacific Place 11, $13 / May 17 at 6:30, AMC Pacific Place 11, $13 / May 18 at 3:30, Lincoln Square Cinemas, $11

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

High school seniors Greg and his buddy Earl are more than content killing time with the nerdy hobby of making short spoofs of famous films. The duo's comfortable routine gets jarred when Greg's mother urges him to befriend his classmate Rachel, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Despite both parties initial trepidation, they quickly form an inseparable bond. As Rachel's condition worsens, Greg sets out to make a special film for her in this touching teenage dramedy that won this year's Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon will attend the May 16 showing, and tickets that include a post-screening party are available.

Screenings: May 16 at 6:30, AMC Pacific Place 11, $13–$25 / May 17 at 2:30, SIFF Cinema Uptown, $13

Slow West

After his love must flee to the post-Civil War American West, a 16-year-old Scottsman named Jay sets out to traverse the hostile and wild terrain to find her before bounty hunters do. Along the way, he encounters Silas (Michael Fassbender), a veteran of these foreign parts who soon becomes Jay's ally-for-hire. The unusual pair must keep their wits about them and their trigger fingers ready in this gorgeous western that won the World Cinema Jury Prize at Sundance this year.

Screenings: May 16 at 8:30, SIFF Cinema Uptown, $13 / May 17 at 4:30, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, $13