Welcome to today’s Now Streaming in Austin, highlighting locally-made movies to watch while self-quarantining.

Bob Byington has an eye for the outsider, and his 2019 charming, weird, lo-fi character study Frances Ferguson is no exception.

The SXSW standout from the director of RSO [Registered Sex Offender], 7 Chinese Brothers, and Somebody Up There Likes Me was created in Austin but shot in small-town Nebraska (you can read all about the location and the shoot in our interview with Byington and star Kaley Wheless, “Small-Town Sins“). In it, high school teacher Frances Ferguson (Wheless) makes a tedium-driven decision that makes her a pariah. If that sounds a little dark, then the narration from Byington regular Nick Offerman puts everything in a very different light.

Frances Ferguson is available now on Amazon. It’s free for Prime members, a bargain at 99 cents to rent, and only $4.99 to buy in HD. So sit back, and enjoy this clear-eyed and compassionate story of a woman who just got a little too bored.

Frances Ferguson

• Amazon Prime (Link)

This article appears in March 20 • 2020.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.