Michael Esper Movies

Three Chinese students in New York City find their preconceptions of life in America permanently shattered in this comedy drama from director Shimon Dotan (Hot House, Diamond Dogs). It's the summer of 1980. Chen (Leonardo Nam), Tzu (James Chen), and Wa (Keong Sim) have just arrived in the country when they move into a crowded apartment building and meet their new neighbor -- a friendly graduate student named Dexter (Ryan O'Nan). Up to this point, Tzu, Wa, and Chen have learned everything they ever knew about life in the U.S. by watching endless hours of television. But shortly after meeting Dexter's sometimes-girlfriend Suzanne (Gillian Jacobs) and starving filmmaker Billy (Michael Esper), the newly arrived trio get a rude awakening in the form of a vicious mugging. Meanwhile, relationships get complicated when Suzanne comes on to Chen, and her ex-boyfriend Zap (Peter Scanavino) turns menacing. Convinced that something ominous looms on the horizon following the assassination of John Lennon, the unnerved trio decide that their only hope for personal safety in the city is to buy a handgun. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Both of their lives having recently taken a sharp turn for the worse, two estranged brothers attempt to flee New York and start over in California, only to find their desperate flight complicated by a robbery gone awry and a mysterious, sphinx-like creature called the sufferer. Paul (Michael Esper) was still living at home with his parents when he decided to drop out of college and search for his wayward brother Don (aka "Light") (Paul Dano). It's been a year since Don was kicked out of the family home, and neither his parents nor his brother have heard a word from him since. After scouring Washington Square Park and finally locating his estranged sibling, Paul proposes that the two make some quick cash by ripping off a gang of local drug dealers, and then hop a plane bound for California to start from scratch. When the robbery goes awry, however, the brothers find themselves pursued through the streets not only by the vengeful drug dealers, but a sphinx-like creature known as the sufferer who trails after people in trouble as well. But is the sufferer a guardian angel, or a harbinger of death? Later, when the drug dealers get the upper hand on the two brothers, Paul turns to the sufferer for help in a moment of desperation. Unfortunately for Don, the sufferer cannot intervene and the events will ultimately have to play out to their natural conclusion. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi