REVOLUTION #9 

(90 mins, 2002)
Written and Directed by Tim McCann
Starring: Michael Risley, Adrienne Shelly, Spalding Grey, Callie Thorne

Official Selection – Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection – Telluride Film Festival
Winner – Grand Jury Award – Nantucket Film Festival
Winner – Special Jury Award – Mar Del Plata Film Festival
Media Award – American College of Neuropsychopharmacology

“Spinning together with Rumpelstiltskinian skill, such disparate interests as technological paranoia and deep-felt concern over the quality of mental health care in America, Tim McCann’s strong second feature, Revolution #9 looks with fresh eyes at a new millennium… A highly assured, ambitious pic located somewhere between the loopy fantasy of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and the harsh sterility of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest… McCann’s instinctive camera-eye burnishes nearly every exchange with a Cassavetes dynamism…  Superlative performances.”
Scott Foundas, VARIETY

“McCann creates a throbbing, nightmarish atmosphere grounded in images of collapse and disintegration… This is expressive filmmaking, aided by electric, emotionally attuned performances (including a great turn by Spalding Gray)…  It is a shock to the system: precise, moving and gripping.”
Patrick McGavin, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“We need movies like Tim McCann’s Revolution #9, an unadorned, unsparing chronicle of a young man’s descent into a nightmare of delusion… McCann has a keen eye for the more benign delusions that beset modern urbanites… Essential.”
A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“This sharp, passionate feature is chillingly good.”
Jonathan Rosenbaum, CHICAGO READER

“With unexpected dark humor, an aversion to the obvious, and a superb lead performance by Michael Risley, writer-director Tim McCann illuminates his protagonist’s precarious psychological state… Priceless.”
Dennis Lim, VILLAGE VOICE

“Harrowing… part paranoid thriller, part Cassavetes drama.”
Anthony Kaufman, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

“Tim McCann’s Revolution #9 is a taut, intelligent psychological drama…  McCann exposes rather than preaches, and his film is the very model of forceful, low-budget New York independent production.”
Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Some of the best films I’ve seen at Telluride this year? Consider Revolution #9, Tim McCann’s closely observed character drama. It is utterly absorbing.”
Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN TIMES

“Think of Revolution #9 as the flipside of A Beautiful Mind: a tougher, much more realistic look at the effects of schizophrenia… Realistic, compelling performances. Strong stuff, minus the upbeat sentimentality of last year’s Oscar-winner.   In that respect, it may be an even more important film.”
Marshall Fine, JOURNAL NEWS