Erin Trahan

Film Writer

Erin Trahan writes about film for WBUR and has also contributed to The Boston Globe, The Independent, MovieMaker Magazine, Women's Review of Books and AGNI.

Recently published

Ethan de Aguiar introduces "Love Letters to New Bedford" at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. (Courtesy Josh Souza)

Inaugural New Bedford Film Festival begins with a love letter

Running April 18-21, the international program includes 101 titles — from shorts to features, animation to music videos. “We're a unique city. We're full of characters," says New Bedford filmmaker...

9 Greater Boston film festivals to check out this spring

From the 40th installment of the Wicked Queer Film Festival to a horror film festival in Salem, film critic Erin Trahan shares the fests to explore this season.

Boston producers behind '20 Days in Mariupol' may bring home an Oscar

Though two other titles produced by Frontline have earned Academy Award nominations, it’s the first for the series’ editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath, of Lexington, and Frontline editor Michelle...

Arts & Culture

Mar 8, 2024

Still from "OkThanksBye." (Courtesy Belmont World Film’s Family Festival)

9 Greater Boston film festivals to check out this winter

The season brings the rescheduled Boston Palestine Film Festival, screenings from families and a sci-fi movie marathon. Here's what Erin Trahan recommends checking out this winter.

Arts & Culture

Jan 12, 2024

Clockwise from top left: "May December" (Courtesy Francois Duhamel/Netflix); "Killers of the Flower Moon" (Courtesy Melinda Sue Gordon/Apple TV+); "American Fiction" (Courtesy Claire Folger/Orion Pictures); "Barbie" (Courtesy Warner Bros.); and "Past Lives" (Courtesy A24).

The best films of 2023, according to our critics

Audiences finally returned to the cinema this year and movies felt like events again, with "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" dominating cultural conversation. Film critics Erin Trahan and Sean Burns share their...

Arts & Culture

Dec 20, 2023

Charles Stuart (right) pictured with wife Carol.

New docuseries confronts the fallout from an infamous Boston murder

HBO's “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning” examines what happened when Boston’s white-led law enforcement and media took Charles Stuart’s racist bait.

Arts & Culture

Nov 30, 2023

From left: Director Alexander Payne, Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph on the set of "The Holdovers." (Courtesy Seacia Pavao/Focus Features)

For director Alexander Payne, making 'The Holdovers' felt like 'coming home'

While Payne grew up in Nebraska, filming his newest movie in Massachusetts led him to fall in love with Bostonians. "I began to call them Eastern Midwesterners,” he said.

Arts & Culture

Nov 3, 2023

A still from "A Gaza Weekend." (Courtesy Cohen Media Group)

8 Greater Boston film festivals to check out this fall

Despite the dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, the festival circuit keeps chugging along with a steady stream of indie and international films screening locally. Film critic Erin Trahan highlights the...

Arts & Culture

Sep 15, 2023

Inside the Somerville Theatre. (Courtesy Marissa Fiorucci)

Your guide to the Boston area's indie theaters and film festivals

Here’s a curated list of our coolest indie theaters, as well as several of the major festivals you should keep on your radar.

Arts & Culture

Jun 30, 2023

A still from Georden West's "Playland." (Courtesy Provincetown Film Festival)

6 film festivals to check out this summer

From fiction to documentaries, parties to panels, and with an abundance of talent known locally and abroad, Boston’s summer moviegoing has something for everyone.

Arts & Culture

Jun 14, 2023