GoKawiilTIFF 2026: 'Vintage Violence' turns phone addiction into crime-thriller chaos
Director Eugene Kotlyarenko's new film, screened at TIFF 2026, follows a disgraced influencer played by Cole Sprouse who travels to Tokyo to sell rare vintage Levi's and gets tangled up with yakuza scammers. The movie stands out by constantly showing characters' phone screens and livestreams onscreen, mimicking the experience of being perpetually online while blending comedy with bloody, Miike-style violence.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Filmmakers have long struggled to depict texting, livestreaming and social media naturally within a movie's visual language, and Kotlyarenko's approach pushes that experiment further than prior attempts like Deadstream or his own Spree. If distributors pick it up, it could influence how future genre films tackle screen-life storytelling without feeling gimmicky.
- Eugene Kotlyarenko's 'Vintage Violence' premiered at TIFF 2026 without a distributor or trailer yet.
- The film immerses viewers in constant phone-screen visuals to mirror digital addiction throughout the story.
- Cole Sprouse stars as a disgraced influencer whose Tokyo denim deal spirals into a yakuza-driven crime plot.
Source: theverge.com — Andrew Webster, 2026-09-15
Published there as: “Vintage Violence is an absurdist crime thriller for phone addicts”
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