Ideal Itinerary

Eat and relax your way through a day in Dallas' Inwood Village

Traditional shopping malls were already waning before the coronavirus pandemic, but now open-air destinations are even more enticing.

One of Dallas' most beloved is Inwood Village, a fixture off Lovers Lane and Inwood Road since 1947. With individually owned stores, unique boutiques, and local restaurants, all connected with pedestrian-friendly walkways, it's easy to spend an entire day shopping, dining, and relaxing.

You'll especially want to pop into your favorite spots and discover new go-tos during Partners Card week, October 30-November 8.

Inwood Village is one of the retailers that supports The Family Place through this annual event, which nets shoppers and diners big discounts while giving back to this important nonprofit as it aids victims of family and domestic violence. One $75 Partners Card provides a victim with one night of safety, while scoring you 20 percent off at retailers and 10 percent off at restaurants.

With this give-back mentality in place, plan out your perfect day at Inwood Village with these tips.

Breakfast and lunch
Grab breakfast on the run or a quick sandwich at the place Dallasites revere as their carb Mecca: Empire Baking Co. It's easy to see why, once you scan the extensive menus of naturally leavened breads, pastries, cookies, and savory sandwiches. The bakery also supplies its delicious bread to several popular restaurants, but you can go right to the source and bring a loaf or two home to enjoy.

Looking for a quick gift or help on entertaining? Empire also offers a curated selection of local and national products on its shelves. Don't forget to swing by during Partners Card and get mouth-watering treats at a discount.

Rest and recharge
The Ozone Bar is the spot for all things for health and wellness, with a focus on releasing toxins from the body and boosting immunity. Soak up the benefits of the infrared sauna, which helps with cell turnover to combat high blood pressure, cholesterol, weight gain, pain, and even the amount of heavy metals in the body. Or go for the namesake treatment with ozone therapy, which promotes healthy living through detoxing, increasing circulation, and stimulating blood cells for optimal energy output and nutrient absorption.

This location even has one of only two HOCATT saunas (reportedly the kind Tom Cruise uses) in Dallas. It's the only sauna that utilizes transdermal ozone, CO2/carbonic acid, far infrared, pure oxygen, red light/color therapy, and microcurrents to give the most collective response for better results. Join The Ozone Bar's email list, and receive $15 off your first treatment.

Pause to shop
Outdoor activities are so in right now — better make sure you're properly outfitted at Saint Bernard. As you pick out sportswear, ski and snowboard equipment, pro-level footwear, and any accessory you might need, keep in mind that from October 30-December 24 the store will be offering $5 gift wrap, all benefitting Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

With children in mind, get a jump on holiday wish lists with a stop at Toys Unique!. The family-owned wonderland has been recommending just the right gifts and games to DFW families for more than 30 years, and always stocks the latest must-have toys. Both of these stores are participating in Partners Card.

An afternoon of indulgence
Hiatus Spa + Retreat's flagship location can be found here, and it recently underwent a major remodel. That means an even more beautiful setting in which to enjoy massages, facials, waxing, and nail services, all with customizable add-ons for a truly luxurious experience.

Treat yourself by signing up for Hiatus' monthly membership program, which entitles you to one essential service a month (or save them up for a spectacular day of pampering). Once you experience the zero-gravity chairs in the nail room or the Hiatus Everyday essential oils during a massage, you'll want to set aside this regular time for yourself.

Happy hour + dinner
Cap off a terrific day by dropping into Mesero just in time for happy hour, which runs Monday through Thursday from 3-5 pm. Enjoy $2 off cocktails and appetizers — go traditional with the La Perfección or spicy with the La Picosa, rounded out with a duo of queso and guacamole — then stick around for a dinner crafted with Mexican flavors and spirit. Some say the enchiladas are the best in Dallas, but that's something you'll have to try and decide for yourself.

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Inwood Village is proud to support Partners Card. Participating retailers include The Bar Method, Empire Baking Co., Jon Hart Shop at TheBiz, KidBiz, Liz and Honey Boutique, Mary Cates & Co, Mecox, Saint Bernard, Sculpthouse, Susan Saffron Jewelry Boutique, TheBiz, Theia Jewelry, and Toys Unique!.

Continue to support local businesses by shopping on Small Business Saturday, coming up on November 28.

Relax during an infrared sauna at The Ozone Bar.

Photo courtesy of The Ozone Bar

Relax during an infrared sauna at The Ozone Bar.

shopping dinner lunch luxury cocktails promoted brunch

Movie Review

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma gives horror a surreal twist

Photo courtesy of MUBI

Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

The horror genre really ramped up in the 1970s and ‘80s, bringing with it a new subgenre - the slasher - that gave audiences new visuals of gore, but also a reliance on sexism and homophobia that would come to define the era. The new film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma wrestles with that legacy in ways that are funny, thought-provoking, and downright strange.

Kris (Hannah Einbinder) is a queer filmmaker who has been hired to reboot the moldy IP that is the Camp Miasma franchise, one that was fresh in the 1970s but which numerous shlocky sequels have rendered irrelevant. In an attempt to get to know the property better, Kris has scored a meeting with the reclusive Billy (Gillian Anderson), the star of the original film who has shunned the public eye for decades.

Turns out that Billy lives deep in the woods at Camp Rivoli, which served as the location for the first film. As Kris tries to get to know Billy and convince her to be a part of the new film, she starts to fall under Billy’s spell and the lore of the franchise as a whole. That includes believing that the movie’s villain, Little Death - a transgender person who has an air conditioning vent as a head/mask - may not just be a character created for the movies.

Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), the film at first feels like it’s going to go the straight-up comedy route, with comic explosions of blood, a strange fascination with candy brands, and a production design that does nothing to hide that the two main actors are on a movie set with painted backdrops. This is backed up by Kris’ phone conversations with her girlfriend, Mari (Jasmine Savoy Brown) and her agent (Sarah Sherman), as well as numerous other details.

But the film starts to go down the surreal route the longer Kris stays at the camp with Billy, especially when they sit down to watch the original Camp Miasma. An extended sequence shows a good amount of that film-within-the-film, demonstrating why Kris and Billy have a love/hate relationship with the property. For Kris, though, the lines between the film and the real world start to blur, and Schoenbrun uses a variety of out-there elements to drive the point home.

The final act of the film can barely be described as Kris goes deeper down the rabbit hole, with Schoenbrun using her film to comment on the horror genre as a whole, its treatment of women and LGBT people, the movie industry, and more. All the while the “camp” of Camp Miasma maintains a presence, with candy wrappers showing up everywhere and the tongue-in-cheek references to Little Death (the French term La petite mort, which means “the little death,” is a euphemism for orgasm).

Einbinder, an Emmy winner for Hacks, is the perfect person to inhabit her role. Her established real-life and fictional personas color everything she does in the film, with her enthusiasm and curiosity shining through. Anderson leans heavily into another reference - Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard - to create a character that is as mysterious as she is alluring. Supporting actors like Brown, Sherman, Patrick Fischler, Dylan Baker, and Eva Victor keep the movie at the right pitch all the way through.

While other films have made fun of horror movie tropes before, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma finds a wholly unique way of doing so. It’s a funny and daring trip into the psyches of two women who may be victims of their own obsessions, and of the movies that made them that way.

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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is now playing in select theaters

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