Cliff’s small-town existence is disrupted by the arrival of Marg who claims to be his birth mother. Soon he is swept into her unorthodox adventures, while trying to learn about himself, in Nick Butler’s delightfully offbeat Lunar Sway.
Two lone wolves
by Chris DrewCAUTION: Here be spoilers
Neon-sign artist Cliff (Noah Parker, Who by Fire) is approached at his parents’ yard-sale by a woman claiming to be his birth m0other.
Surprised and intrigued, he agrees to meet for coffee. Bonding over comical tarot readings Marg (Liza Weil, After Life) says Cliff’s laugh is like hers and the pair start to feel a connection.
Other plot strands include Cliff going on multiple dates with a guy he meets in a bar while trying
to remember the face of an artist who painted him multiple times.
Scenes between Cliff and his therapist Neal (Andy Yu, Big Gold Brick) are a highlight. After grabbing Neal’s notebook and finding sexually explicit drawings, Cliff revels in teasing him.
A slightly crazed woman Bailey (Grace Glowicki, Honey Bunch) says she is a bounty hunter and is looking for Marg. She later reveals that Marg had claimed to be her mother to get money.
Bailey attempts a citizen’s arrest on Marg and then sets Cliff up with a wire to get a confession from Marg. Cliff doesn’t want to entrap Marg, even when she reveals she is not his mother.
We’re then swept into a road movie as Cliff assists Marg with her cons, complete with wigs and disguises. Staying in motels the relationship becomes sexual, but Cliff’s conscience prevents him from seeing through the cons.
Bailey tracks them to one motel, launching a Molotov cocktail through the window. Cliff hurts himself getting out a window, but we don’t see Marg get out.
A limping Cliff happens upon the artist, Jovi (Kaden Connors, The Wrong Paris), who helps patch him up and says he has ‘face blindness’ but as Cliff leaves, Jovi sees that he has painted Cliff before.
Sometime in the future – where Marg may or may not be dead – we see Cliff runs a small gallery next to a hummingbird sanctuary while still thinking about Marg.
Parker and Weil make compelling leads and have a nice chemistry. Neither character is given much backstory, but they effectively sell Cliff and Marg as interesting loners looking for their place in the world in different ways.
As Bailey, Glowicki’s overly comedic performance has a significantly different tone to all of the others feeling like she is in a different film. Yu as the deadpan therapist is excellent in his scenes with Parker.
Writer-director Butler’s screenplay becomes increasingly surreal with the plot unfolding in unexpected ways, never fully grounded in reality.
Lunar Sway is a both a quirky treat and, with Cliff as the protagonist, welcome bisexual representation in independent cinema.
Washed Up screened as a World Premiere at the 2026 BFI Flare Festival.
