Gazer Is a Reminder of When Indie Films Were Exciting

Photo: Metrograph Pictures

Newark, New Jersey, doesn’t get showcased onscreen all that often — almost never when compared to New York, which sprawls about ten miles and a whole universe of urban mythology away. But Gazer, a promising indie from Ryan J. Sloan and Ariella Mastroianni, stretches into the city and its surrounding areas like a long-limbed cat. With a familiarity that runs deeper than affection, the first-time filmmakers and New Jersey natives make a case for the northern part...