The 5th Annual Vashon Island Film Festival returns Thursday, August 13, for four days of independent cinema, bringing an eclectic collection of narrative features, documentaries, short films, and special presentations to Vashon Island.

Running August 13-16, 2026, this year's festival includes eight narrative features and five feature-length documentaries, along with an extensive collection of narrative, documentary, and animated shorts.

Should I See It is thrilled to be documenting the festival's feature selections for those heading over to the iconic island getaway, located a few miles south of West Seattle in the Kitsap Peninsula. Each day, I will be sharing capsule reviews of what I have seen and highlighting some of the films worth keeping an eye on as VIFF gets underway.

As Saturday arrives, Day Three offers four features, including one locally-made acclaimed documentary about burial innovation, a documentary examining the rise of cryptocurrency, a two-time Swiss Film Awards winner, and a noir-adjacent crime caper.

The best documentaries are the ones that introduce us to things we otherwise would never see. The phrase “ecological disposition,” or the word terramation (a/k/a “human composting”) is something that sounds like science-fiction or the stuff of conspiracy theories. In fact, the word “terramation” triggers a misspelling notification every time I type the word in my writing platforms.

Within a few minutes of watching The Life We Leave, J.J. Gerber’s excellent look at burial and funeral innovation, we are drawn into a world we likely have not experienced. And I have to admit … I was hooked.

There are no conspiracies, no crazy sci-fi happenings here. A northwest company, Return Home, provides a service that turns a loved one into rich, living soil that then “return(s) their life to the earth in the most literal and beautiful sense.” Founded by tech entrepreneur Micah Truman, Return Home was met with immediate dismissiveness by a traditional funeral industry. As the film points out, the death care industry has been built for more than 100 years on essentially two options for how to honor those who have passed away - burial and cremation. Truman’s idea radicalized what was easy and established. 

Plus, turning human beings into compost and distributing them as soil to help grow new things is either beautiful or blasphemous, depending on your viewpoint. Religion, morality, personal belief, life experience, and honoring one’s final wishes all contribute to the end-of-life decisions we make. 

As Gerber shows us, Truman does not give up easily. A workaholic, he persists and eventually wins over skeptical funeral directors, scientists, and industry professionals. He secures a business partner to help structure and design his business. Deceased pigs are used to test the process and we are there when Return Home secures its first client - a young woman whose wife tragically died from a rare form of cancer.

In 2019, Washington became the first state to allow human composting. Currently, 14 states allow human composting and the process has grown and matured over time. When Truman started Return Home, he had no vision for the experience of the family coming to his facility. After hiring funeral industry professionals, the business transformed from a stale, colorless warehouse to a vibrant, forest-like office space where families are encouraged to come and visit during the terramation process and even hold parties celebrating their loved ones.

Though there are facts presented about the impacts the death care industry has on the environment, and other considerations that make terramation a much more eco-friendly alternative, Gerber’s film stops short of advocacy or hagiography of its subjects. There is a notable restraint here that recognizes skepticism and resistance, and simply tells the Return Home story in a measured and kind-hearted manner.

Gerber’s film transitions from one of business practice to one of care and nurturing. The funeral directors Micah hires, Brie and Katey, bring comfort and expertise to the emotional aspects of death and dying that Micah was not ready or prepared for. He learns, as we do, just how delicate and emotional this work can be for people we often assume compartmentalize grief from their personal lives. Here, Gerber captures those feelings intertwined, as Brie reads a last story to an infant who has tragically lost their life.

The Life We Leave never sensationalizes anything it presents, though deeper into the film we see more of the preparation process than at the beginning. Gerber eases us into these moments as our own level of comfort adjusts with what is being presented and shared. So as we see an open container and a family gathering around it - we are not shocked or offended. We see a family processing grief, believing that they are honoring the wishes of their loved one. There is no judgment. Even if this is not anything you would want for yourself or your loved ones, it is hard not to see why a growing number of people are turning to this as an option.

Gerber’s film makes one consider that how we leave this world may matter less than what we choose to leave behind. Is death an ending, or merely a continuation?

Mickey Keating’s Crooks wears its influences directly on its sleeve. Scenes call to mind the work of David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, and dialogue-dense Quentin Tarantino. Other scenes are clearly inspired by film noir-era mystery. At just 76 minutes, the film plays like an homage to other people’s works, only finding its own voice in a surprising third act featuring talented character actor Melora Walters.

Much of the film focuses on Faye (Angela Trimbur), a femme fatale-type of character who joins an old flame in holding up a card game for a quick payday. Leaving her nightclub singer life behind, she gets herself in some trouble and is on the run from “The Ghost” (Keith Kupferer), a shoot-first kind of gangster all dressed in black. Eventually, the film ends up in a metaphorical “cabin in the woods” type of location - Big Ed’s Diner. There, Walters gives a captivating performance as Blanche, the only employee of the diner who has a jukebox full of records, a unique coffee pouring style, and enough mystery to make her seem dangerous.

Crooks is stylish and visually impressive, with scenes from the past appearing in black-and-white and other moments bathed in rich, heavy light and washed out grays and whites in others. For some, that will be enough. For me, I wanted to find Keating’s voice in the film, and often just felt like I was watching a talented cover artist mimic someone else’s work. Crooks is alright, but largely because we have seen the bones of it many times before.

Self-financed and earning a limited theatrical release earlier this year, Ben McKenzie’s Everyone is Lying to You for Money earns a spot at this year’s festival, along with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Funny, clever, and created by an admitted skeptic, McKenzie delivers a documentary that feels like a travelogue program, but slices through the enigmatic rise of cryptocurrency with the precision of a Michelin chef. No matter where you fall on the crypto spectrum, Everyone is Lying to You for Money cuts deep. McKenzie exposes the arguable fraud of crypto with re-enactments, talking head interviews, archival footage, animation, and other approaches.

Entertaining as it is informative, and adapted from the actor-turned-director’s book on the subject, “Easy Money,” McKenzie’s film deserves a seat at the table when thinking about the year’s best documentaries and his uncomfortable, revealing interview with Sam Bankman-Fried is worth watching this film all by itself.

The winner of two Swiss Film Awards, Silent Rebellion is a coming-of-age drama set in 1940s Switzerland, involving a 15-year-old girl (Lila Gueneau), faced with unimaginable circumstances, trying to navigate matters on her own, while finding a mature voice all her own in the process. Timely and topical, critics have called the film one of “silent power,” and “always filled with sincerity and passion.”

As of this writing, I have not had a chance to see the film, but tickets remain available for one of the most acclaimed international films of 2026. See the ticket link below.

THE FESTIVAL

The 2026 Vashon Island Film Festival runs August 13-16 on Vashon Island, Washington. Additional information on films, screening times, tickets, and festival events is available through the Vashon Island Film Festival website.