Anime Club returns with our 2nd Annual Live-Action Night spotlighting two films from 2004 that explore the Lolita fashion and subculture boom of the early 2000s – each from radically different perspectives.

Our first feature is a candy-colored cult classic bursting with rococo dresses, parasols, and hyper-stylized charm. Set against a suburban backdrop, it follows a frill-obsessed devotee of all things sweet whose carefully constructed world collides with a brash biker delinquent. What begins as a culture clash becomes an unexpectedly tender story of friendship, self-definition, and the power of dressing for the life you want.

The second feature offers a stark tonal shift: a provocative, media-saturated psychological thriller that examines voyeurism, performance, and the commodification of youth in an increasingly surveillance-driven culture. Where the first film celebrates fantasy as empowerment, this one questions who controls the image — and who pays the price. Longtime FACETS audiences may recognize it as a former release on the FACETS DVD label, part of our continued commitment to bold, boundary-pushing international cinema.

Together, these two works form a striking double feature — sweetness and spectacle, agency and exploitation, lace and static. Join us as Anime Club goes live action and revisits the early 2000s through a subculture that was never just about the clothes.

Anime Club is a Film Club Member exclusive and includes two tickets so members can bring a plus one.