REVIEWS

“(CRITICS' PICK) The acting is fabulous. Under Chris Brown's direction, an ensemble cast of unknowns works the reunited-for-Christmas-dinner theme beautifully.”          
          – Neil Genzlinger, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“An indie masterpiece filled with tension, loathing, hysteria and laughter...I can't recommend it highly enough.”
          – George Heymont, HUFFINGTON POST

“Funny in a blackly comedic way…Brown and his very good cast nicely ratchet up the gallows-humor tension.”
          – Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

“It’s exciting to encounter the work of a filmmaker who isn’t afraid to push buttons or challenge viewers but who isn’t taking this stance simply to be antagonistic. Yes, I’d bet actual cold, hard cash that Fanny, Annie & Danny is more abrasive than anything you’ve seen in a long time, but it also happens to be a memorable micro-budget achievement that has a tender, excruciatingly funny heart.”  (A Hammer To Nail Pick of the Week)
          – Michael Tully, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE / HAMMER TO NAIL

“(CRITICS' PICK) Brown channels both Todd Solondz and John Cassavettes with his creepy suburban aesthetic.”
          – TIME OUT BOSTON

“A darkly funny tale of family dysfunction.”
          – Pam Grady, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“The conflicted-family Christmas reunion film to end them all...You'll laugh till you cry, or vice versa.”
          – Colin Covert, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

“A host of fine performances distinguish this low budget drama...”          
          – NEW YORK MAGAZINE

“A daft, pitch-black dark comedy.  Fanny, Annie & Danny will make anybody with a family, the more dysfunctional the better, cringe and grin.” 
         – Roger Moore, ORLANDO SENTINEL

“(TOP 10 of 2011) This movie should be sent to every studio mogul and director as a primer in how great films can be done on microscopic budgets.”          
          – Carlos DeVillalvilla, CINEMA 365

“It's not gonna be all smiles this Christmas season.”          
          – TIME OUT NEW YORK

“Packed with captivating performances...director Chris Brown brings a focus on characters and family dynamics that makes most holiday family squabbles look like a picnic.  Find it and see it!”     
          – Aaron Lafferty, NBC/WOOD TV8

“Simply captivating…I was mesmerized.  Wow!”
          – Ray Read, KCMO RADIO 710

“Spectacularly shattering.  The film’s strength is undoubtedly its cast, especially in drawing the dark humour from a family torn apart by a collective lifetime of disappointment.”
          – Dan Wakefield, DIGYORKSHIRE.COM

“See it with family!  If you dare.”   
          – Jonathan Kiefer, KQED

“A superb anti-Rockwellian portrait of the American Christmas...It can now be said that Mike Leigh no longer has a monopoly on all tightly woven working-class dramatic films, because here comes Chris Brown.”
          – Adam Cuttler, FILMBALAYA.COM

“Very indie and very good.”
          – Walter Ryce, MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY

“Nothing turns out quite as expected in this warped peek into a holiday collision of quirky and unorthodox proportions...A painfully funny tale that isn't what it seems.  Evocative and just plain funny.”
          – Jerry Rapp, REVIEW MAGAZINE 

“Tautly rendered...the acting throughout is superb.  A must see.”
          – Tom Haines, THE BIG BEND SENTINEL

“A suspenseful, suburban gothic drama.”
          – ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

“Cynical, darkly comical, weird, angst-filled, quirky and a complete original.  A wonderous discovery.  See it!”  
          – Page Leggett, THE CHRONIC CRITIC

FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAM NOTES:

"Chris Brown hits the bull's eye with a delicious dark comedy that evokes nervous laughter as well as an unsettling suspense. A brilliant script is magnificently performed by a virtuoso cast – under the inspired orchestration of writer/director/editor Brown."         
         – FORT LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

"With characters befitting a Todd Solondz film and biting dialogue reminiscent of Edward Albee, Bay Area director Chris Brown brings these tragically quirky siblings together for an explosively funny and horrific day of family reckoning." 
        – MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

"A darkly comedic, sometimes shockingly funny film examining the residual effects of growing up in an unstable home, Fanny, Annie & Danny will have you squirming with anxious laughter. The titular trio are dysfunctional adult siblings brought together by their equally hapless mother for the Christmas holiday, a seemingly commonplace occasion that ultimately assumes considerable depth."        
         – SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY'S CINEMA BY THE BAY

"If there is a film to make you grateful for the relative normality of your own family, it is the darkly comic indie film from writer/director Chris Brown...A gratifying antithesis of the traditional American holiday family movie, Brown's film is a well-paced character study about small characters with angst-filled lives, and contains some great performances from the ensemble cast."         
         – BRADFORD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

"A dark comedy about the ties that simultaneously bind a trio of siblings and split them apart."
          – NEW JERSEY FILM FESTIVAL

"Anchored by Pixley’s brilliant performance, Fanny, Annie, & Danny smartly intertwines the separate struggles of each member of this dysfunctional family into a powerful finale."         
         – STARZ DENVER FILM FESTIVAL