Pomp & Circumstance
Comedy, Independent, 18-Sep-2025
Three soon-to-be college graduates become entangled in an absurd plot involving their professor’s run for mayor, an Elvis impersonator, and a group of radical artists. Adrian Anderson directs “Pomp & Circumstance,” a comedic, college-set feature shot on 16mm, set amongst the quaint and crunchy backdrop of Burlington, Vermont. As a power point presentation goes from one slide to the next, a professor of the liberal arts passionately rambles to a classroom of semi-focused students on post-war architecture. Meanwhile, a local Elvis impersonator prepares for his daily outing, and the film’s main cast of friends, Charlie (Sociology BS), Marie (Filmmaking BFA), and Thomas (Literature BA), chat amongst one another, going about their days informed by their blossoming schools of thought—Thomas tries to court ladies at a local bookstore speaking in quotations he doesn’t understand; Charlie decides to become homeless; and Marie makes visual documents through the lens of her Bolex. In breaks, we go from following the friends in their individual endeavors to the small-town shenanigans of the rest of its occupants, all of which comically collide come the evening. Textures of the East Coast in late autumn fill the backdrop of verbose back-and-forths where Anderson embraces tropes and archetypes of the liberal arts landscape. Beyond caricature, Anderson offers much nostalgia for anyone who may have once passed through a similar environment. -JM. Director: Adrian Anderson & Patrick Gray. Cast: Ben Loftus, Noah Brockman, Isabel Zaia, Pat Malone. DP: Dillon Toole. Producer: Adrian Anderson, Thomas Bloxham. Production and Costume Design: Alex Walton. Music: Jake McKelvie.