MILES

Set in the 90s, when dial-up internet and instant messaging were starting to enter every home in America, this film is centered on Miles, a high school senior impatiently waiting to flee his close-minded small town. After graduation he plans to attend film school in Chicago, where a number of his online buddies are living. His plan goes south when his father dies of a heart attack. It’s not the death that derails the plan, but more the discovery that his dad was cheating on his mom (played by SNL-alum and Shaker Heights native Molly Shannon) and blew Miles’ college savings on gifts for his young mistress. Miles finds a backup plan in an unlikely place: a volleyball scholarship to Loyola University. The only problem is his school doesn’t have a team for boys. Desperate, Miles tries out for the girl’s team and unexpectedly makes the cut. The move creates a huge controversy across the region, threatening the only chance Miles has to escape. Based on a true story, MILES is a touching comedy that completely obliterates gender stereotypes. —E.F.