Great Scott! 

SBIFF’s Cinema Society dips back into streaming sensations at the Riviera Theatre with a power-packed pair of evenings devoted to popular AppleTV+ series that have very different ways of showing how folks cope with the loss of a spouse. First up: Severance, the eerie, imaginative and provocative science fiction psychological thriller that has captivated audiences for two full seasons. While the wait for Season 3 continues, star Adam Scott – whose character leads a team of willing office workers whose memories and personae have been surgically bifurcated between their work and personal lives – shares about the show following a screening of the second season finale on Friday, August 8. 

Saturday segues to a show that has also completed two seasons in Shrinking, the comedy about a grieving therapist who breaks rules by telling his clients exactly what he thinks, resulting in huge, tumultuous changes in people’s lives, including his own. Star Jason Segel dishes following a screening of the first two episodes from Season 2. In between, on Saturday morning, SBIFF Cinema Society returns to its usual fare, screening the feature Weapons followed by a conversation with star (and Montecito resident) Josh Brolin. 

We’ve also hit the mid-point in SBIFF’s annual two-week sale for the forthcoming 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February that lops a whopping 25% off the full purchase price on the full slate of passes through August 15. Info at (805) 963-0023 or www.sbiff.org.