Miranda July's new film, The Future, is simple. Two big actions come up alongside each other, spark, fizzle, and fade, still hot with tension. Little happens that clearly affects the direction of the characters' lives, but a lot happens that is very significant to them.

In her two films and her short stories, she is the great artist of boredom, of shyness, of unfulfilled perfectionism, and of disappointment.

But this is what's so compelling about Miranda July: that her world is so unglamorized, while it distinctly strides above the pointlessness of the "mumblecore" genre. Her characters never act routinely, neither through the cliches of everyday life nor by hamming for our entertaintainment. These characters either freeze, doing nothing, or they act surprisingly and tellingly.

In the Q&A that followed tonight's screening, she mentioned that one motivation for The Future was the question, What would happen if you were so disappointed with yourself that you wanted to break up with yourself? This intriguing question could merit several more movies, but July's is notable a contribution to the art.

In the Q&A that followed tonight's screening, she mentioned that this film grew out of a performance she did, featuring many of the same elements, and that this film represented a challenge to render those elements "with some attempt at theatrical release." I would be fascinated to know at what moment she thinks that release arrives, because this film offers less release than any indie film I can remember seeing. (On the side, I wonder whether theatrical release must come at sharp moments. Can it be diffuse?)

This post has no particular end point.