Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Jon Foy's 2011 documentary is built on mysterious tiles found embedded in the asphalt of dozens of cities across the United States and South America. They carry the same cryptic message, and who placed them, and how, is unknown. Justin Duerr, an artist in Philadelphia, has given years to the question, and the film follows his investigation with two friends. Working through library records, old radio broadcasts, phone directories and newspaper archives, the search narrows at a certain point toward a single person. What makes the documentary interesting is less the answer than why Duerr is so attached to the search: a kinship is drawn between the gap in his own life and the obsessive message on the tiles. It won the directing award at Sundance. Who it's for: viewers who like urban mysteries and documentaries built on obsession. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a definite, satisfying solution; the film has to stop at a certain point.