Tag: New York Film Festival

Review: ‘The Shrouds,’ starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt

April 17, 2025

by Carla Hay

Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger in “The Shrouds” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)

“The Shrouds”

Directed by David Cronenberg

Culture Representation: Taking place in Canada, the sci-fi horror film “The Shrouds” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asian people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A widower, who owns an unusual business where people can visually monitor corpses that are insides of graves, tries to solve the mystery of who’s trying to sabatoge his business.

Culture Audience: “The Shrouds” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker David Cronenberg, the movie’s headliners and body horror movies.

Vincent Cassel and Guy Pearce in “The Shrouds” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films)

“The Shrouds” can get muddled and has some pacing that’s too slow. However, it’s a generally intriguing mix of a sci-fi horror story, a mystery thriller and a conspiracy tale that explores the intersections of corporate greed and death exploitation. The movie is supposed to be set in an unspecified period of time but it touches on timeless issues of grief and what happens beyond death.

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, “The Shrouds” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and subseuqently made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. “The Shrouds” takes place in an unnamed city in Canada. The movie was actually filmed in Toronto.

“The Shrouds” begins by showing a widower named Karsh (played by Vincent Cassel) looking through a hole in a rock wall as he sees the floating corpse of his wife Rebecca, nicknamed Becca (played by Diane Kruger), who died of cancer six years ago. The movie has several dream-like sequences where the lines are blurred between reality and hallucinations.

Viewers soon find out that Karsh is so obsessed with what’s happening to the corpse of his wife, he’s made an entire business of out it. Karsh also has an artificial intelligence assistant named Hunny (also played by Kruger), who looks eerily like a young version of Becca. Hunny is a perky and helpful assistant.

Karsh is next seen getting a dental exam. His dentist Dr. Hofstra (played by Eric Weinthal), tells Karsh, “Grief is rotting your teeth.” Dr. Hofstra then offers to give Karsh the JPG photos of Becca’s teeth from past dental exams. Karsh politely declines this offer.

The next scene takes place at The Shrouds, the name of the business that Karsh owns. It’s a combination of a high-tech, non-denominational cemetery and a restaurant, with the cemetery located right outside the back of the restaurant. As morbid as this might sound, apparently the business is doing well enough that Karsh hopes to expand his business to other cities and is looking for investors.

Karsh is having lunch at The Shrouds restaurant while he’s on a first date with a woman named Myrna Shovlin (played by Jennifer Dale), who describes herself as someone who’s been divorced for 20 years. This date was arranged by Dr. Hofstra, who thought that Karsh and Myrna would hit it off and because he thinks lonely Karsh needs to start dating again. The Shrouds restaurant is decorated with artifacts of ancient shrouds (displayed in glass cases) that Karsh tells Myrna are real shrouds.

Karsh and Myrna makes some small talk. He admits he’s still having a hard time getting over the death of his wife Becca. He tells Myrna that when Becca was buried, “I had an intense, visceral urge to get in the box with her.” Karsh also says that he can’t stand the thought of Becca being alone in her grave. He also describes himself as a “non-observant atheist.”

He further explains that Becca was Jewish, which is why she didn’t want to be cremated. Karsh adds, “She said she wanted to lie beside me in death.” Karsh then shows Myrna what The Shrouds cemetery business looks like by demonstrating how he uses it.

That’s how Myrna finds out that the business has hi-tech graves with built-in video screens that allow people to watch and monitor the corpses inside the graves by computer-related devices with access to the screens. Karsh brags to Myrna that his company has invented the technology (called GraveTech) to make this type of grave monitoring possible. He tells Myrna that people who sign up for this service are not repulsed by looking at rotting corpses but are comforted by this activity.

Karsh also tells Myrna that by monitoring Becca’s corpse, he feels connected to her with her body in death, just as he was in life—perhaps even more in death because he has complete control over when he can see Becca. “And it makes me happy,” Karsh comments. This creepy revelation is enough to make Myrna feel uncomfortable. She quickly ends the date, and Karsh never sees her again.

Karsh will soon become consumed with two other women who become his lovers, as already revealed in “The Shrouds” trailer. Terry (also played by Kruger) is Becca’s twin sister. Terry used to be a veterinarian, but she now works as a dog groomer. Terry is a conspiracy theorist who believes that Becca was secretly being used for experiments during Becca’s cancer treatments.

Soo-Min (played by Sandrine Holt) becomes Karsh’s other lover. She meets Karsh because she was sent by her husband Karoly Szabo (played by Vieslav Krystyan), a wealthy Hungarian who might be interested in bringing The Shrouds to Europe. Soo-Min happens to be blind, but she doesn’t let her blindness stop her from being a shrewd and calculating businessperson.

Before these romantic entanglements happen, The Shrouds cemetery is mysteriously vandalized. The perpetrator also sent a video recording to Karsh of the nighttime vandalism when it happened. The video does not show the vandal’s face, and the vandal doesn’t speak in the video.

Karsh doesn’t report this crime to law enforcement because he thinks it will be bad publicity for his business. Instead, he enlists the help of a computer technology expert named Maury Entrekin (played by Guy Pearce) to try to find out who’s behind this sabotage. Maury also happens to be the ex-husband of Terry, but he has remained on friendly terms with Karsh since the divorce.

The movie’s most valuable player in the cast is undoubtedly Kruger, who gives standout performances as three very different characters. She makes each character very distinct from each other in very convincing ways. Cassel is adequate in his role but comes across as somewhat stiff in some scenes. Holt and Pearce are serviceable in their performances.

Cronenberg is known for making movies with striking and inventive visuals. In this regard, “The Shrouds” continues that tradition. However, this movie won’t be considered a masterpiece. Some of the characters could have been better-developed. For example, Terry is ultimately defined by her feelings for Karsh (she had a longtime crush on him) and some sibling rivalry cattiness (Terry was jealous of the more-glamorous Becca), rather than being a well-rounded person with a full life of her own

“The Shrouds” blends the multiple storylines—the mystery of the vandal, Karsh’s love triangle, and the business expansion of The Shrouds—to sometimes clumsy results. And at one point in the movie, it becomes very easy to figure out (before it’s actually revealed in the movie) who’s responsible for trying to ruin Karsh’s business. And as a horror movie, it’s not that scary and is really more of a psychological drama. Despite these flaws, “The Shrouds” can keep viewers interested if they are curious about finding out the answer to the mystery and want to think about what would happen if GraveTech cemetery technology existed in real life.

Sideshow/Janus Films will release “The Shrouds” in select U.S. cinemas on April 18, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on April 25, 2025.

Review: ‘The Friend’ (2025), starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray

March 26, 2025

by Carla Hay

Naomi Watts (pictured at right) and Bing in “The Friend” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“The Friend” (2025)

Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York state the dramatic film “The Friend” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white group of people (with a few black people and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After her best friend dies by suicide, a writer reluctantly takes care of his beloved Great Dane, even though her apartment building doesn’t allow residents to have dogs.

Culture Audience: “The Friend” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in reliably predictable dramas about emotional bonds that can form between humans and pet animals.

Bill Murray and Naomi Watts in “The Friend” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“The Friend” has its charms, but the slow pacing of this movie drags it down. It’s a predictable and competently acted drama about a writer who takes care of a Great Dane while grieving over her best friend’s death. You know how this movie ends. The ending is different from the ending of Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel “The Friend,” on which the movie is based, because it’s obvious that the filmmakers wanted to make the safest choice possible on how to conclude the film.

Written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, “The Friend” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Festival. It then made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The movie takes place in New York state, where “The Friend” was filmed on location.

“The Friend” jumps back and forth in time but begins with a voiceover of protagonist Iris (played by Naomi Watts) talking aloud to the person who was her best friend but who is now deceased: a creative writing professor/author named Walter (played by Bill Murray), who used to be Iris’ teacher and remained her mentor for the rest of his life. (Murray is playing yet another sarcastic, self-absorbed character in this movie.) It’s soon revealed that Walter committed suicide without warning.

Iris muses in her narration that she thinks that the biggest thing that Walter probably worried about in the aftermath if his death: “What’s going to happen to the dog?” That dog is a 150-pound Great Dane named Apollo (played by Bing), who was Walter’s closest non-human companion. After the funeral, Walter’s widow/third wife Barbara (played by Noma Dumezweni) summons Iris to her home to confess that she doesn’t like dogs and doesn’t want to keep Apollo. Barbara doesn’t want to put Apollo in an animal shelter or kennel.

Barbara says the only logical solution would be to give Apollo to Iris because Iris was Walter’s best friend and would’ve wanted it that way. Barbara mentions that all the other people she knows can’t take Apollo because they don’t have the time or the room to have a Great Dane in their lives. Barbara also impolitely assumes that because Iris is a bachelorette with no children, then Iris must have more time than other people to take care of this dog.

Iris doesn’t want to keep the dog either. She explains to Barbara that she prefers cats. And the New York City building where Iris lives does not allow its residents to have dogs as pets. Iris, who teaches a creative writing workshop as a part-time job, also says she’ll be very busy working on the last book that Walter was working on before he died: his memoir, based on journals and letters that Walter left behind. A non-fiction book would have been a departure for Walter, who up until this point had only written novels.

You already know how this story is going to play out, as shown in the movie’s trailer. Iris takes ownership of the dog, which she thinks will be a temporary situation. Her plan is to give Apollo to an animal rescue group that can take Great Danes, but the closest animal rescue group that fits that description doesn’t have room for Apollo and puts Iris on a waiting list.

Iris lives in a fairly small one-bedroom apartment in New York City’s Manhattan borough. It’s a rent-controlled apartment that she inherited from her deceased father. Iris doesn’t want to move because her rent is extremely low and can’t be raised, due to New York City’s rent control laws. The first night that Apollo stays in the apartment, he takes over her bed. Iris is too passive to move the dog to make him sleep somewhere else in the apartment.

You can almost do a countdown to the scenes where Apollo makes a mess of the apartment when Iris is away (due to his separation anxiety) and Iris’ continuing struggle to handle a dog of this size when she takes Apollo for walks or gives baths to Apollo. Iris can barely tolerate Apollo. She gives him food, water and shelter, but doesn’t show him much affection during the first week or two that she’s responsible for taking care of him.

Over time, Iris begins to see that Apollo is also grieving over the loss of Walter. It’s how she starts bonding with this dog. Iris also struggles with the roller coaster of emotions of a loved one left behind by someone who committed suicide. And she starts to wonder if she really wants to give up Apollo after all. You know where all of this is going, of course.

And what about the apartment building rule that forbids residents from having dogs? The building superintendent Hektor Cepeda (played by Felix Solis) knows that Iris is taking care of Apollo and reminds her that the dog isn’t allowed. Iris keeps promising Hektor that Apollo is with her temporarily and she’s working on finding him a new home. The movie shows whether or not the building’s management finds out about this forbidden dog.

Iris is a loner, so the movie doesn’t have scenes where Iris’ friends or family members react to Iris’ new living situation. Therefore, “The Friend” has a lot of screen time spent on flashbacks to happier times when Walter was alive. Even then, Iris’ relationship with Walter was somewhat complicated because of Walter’s very messy personal life.

Walter had a long history of getting sexually involved with his adult female students, regardless of whether or not he was married at the time. In the conversation that Iris and Barbara have about Iris taking Apollo, Barbara hints that Walter left teaching because his affairs resulted in #MeToo complaints against him. “All that misconduct nonsense,” Barbara says in an irritated voice, as she mentions that Walter thought it was a mistake for him to stop teaching.

It’s not too surprising (and not spoiler information) to reveal that Iris was one of his affairs about 30 years ago, when she was in her 20s. Walter and Iris ended their sexual relationship on good terms and decided they were better as platonic friends. However, the movie drops big hints that Iris was probably still a little bit in love with Walter but didn’t want to admit it. In the last year of his life, Iris and been helping Walter with his memoir by keeping his records organized and giving him feedback on his work.

Supporting characters come and go in the movie, which is mostly about Iris adjusting to having Apollo in her life. These supporting characters include:

  • Val Douglas (played by Sarah Pidgeon), Walter’s estranged adult daughter whom Walter wanted to collaborate with Iris on Walter’s memoir.
  • Elaine (played by Carla Gugino), Walter’s cynical second ex-wife, who didn’t even know that Val existed until she saw Val at Walter’s funeral.
  • Marjorie (played by Ann Dowd), Iris’ building neighbor who is friendly to Iris and knows about Apollo.
  • Carter (played by Owen Teague), one of Iris’ students, who wants to write erotic science fiction but is frustrated by classmate criticism that his work is misogynistic.
  • Tuesday Cheng (played by Constance Wu), a pretentious former student of Walter’s who has an unspoken rivalry with Iris.

“The Friend” moves along at a pace that might be too leisurely for some viewers. The acting performances are perfectly fine, and there are some poignant moments that have to do with the effects of grief. The biggest letdown of the movie is that Iris is just so relentlessly boring. “The Friend” is a movie where the dog is often the most interesting thing about many of the scenes. If you’re inclined to like dogs, then “The Friend” is very watchable. Otherwise, “The Friend” might test your patience as it saunters along to a very Hollywood-styled sentimental ending.

Bleecker Street will release “The Friend” in select U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on April 4, 2025.

Review: ‘Misericordia’ (2024), starring Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jacques Develay, Jean-Baptiste Durand and David Ayala

March 21, 2025

by Carla Hay

Félix Kysyl and Jean-Baptiste Durand in “Misericordia” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)

“Misericordia” (2024)

Directed by Alain Guiraudie

French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2023, in Saint-Martial, France, the dramatic film “Misericordia” features an all-white group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: An unemployed con artist goes back to visit a bakery family whom he used to work for, and he proceeds to cause chaos in their lives.

Culture Audience: “Misericordia” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in twist-filled psychological dramas about con artists and their victims.

Pictured clockwise, from center: Tatiana Spivakova, Salomé Lopes, Sébastien Faglain, Catherine Frot and David Ayala in “Misericordia” (Photo courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)

“Misericordia” is a spellbinding psychological thriller about how a con artist fools people into thinking he’s harmless but is actually intent on causing havoc in people’s lives. It’s a superbly acted story about manipulation and murder. Some of the subject matter is intended to be unsettling in showing how victims of con artists can continue to dismiss or ignore indications or evidence that they’ve been conned because it’s easier than facing the truth.

Written and directed by Alain Guiraudie, “Misericordia” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. It then made the rounds at several other film festivals in 2024, including the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. “Misericordia” (which takes place in 2023, in the small town of Saint-Martial, France) received seven nominations, including Best Picture, at the 2025 Cesar Awards, the French version of the Oscars.

“Misericordia” (which takes place in 2023) begins by showing Jérémie Pastor (played by Félix Kysyl), a con artist who’s in his 30s, returning to Saint-Martial, after many years spent living somewhere else. He has most recently lived in Toulouse, France. Jérémie used to live in Saint-Martial when he worked for a family-owned bakery. The family’s patriarch Jean-Pierre Rigal (played by Serge Richard, seen in photos and flashbacks), who was the bakery’s manager, has recently died at the age of 62. Jérémie is back in town to attend the funeral.

Jérémie’s presence gets mixed reactions. Jean-Pierre’s widow Martine Rigal (played by Catherine Frot) seems happy to see Jérémie. By contrast, Martine’s son Vincent Rigal (played by Jean-Baptiste Durand), who’s about the same age as Jérémie, isn’t thrilled to see Jérémie and asks him when he’s going back to Toulouse. Jérémie says he’s only visiting for a few days. He ends up staying much longer than that.

Jérémie tells people he is currently unemployed and has no plans on what to do with his life. Martine assumes that Jérémie’s unemployment means that he’s struggling financially, so she generously invites him to stay at her house. She says that Jérémie can sleep in the bedroom that Vincent had when he lived there. Vincent has his own home with his wife Annie Rigal (played by Tatiana Spivakova) and their son Kilian Rigal (played by Elio Lunetta), who’s about 7 or 8 years old.

Vincent is slightly annoyed to see Jérémie sleeping in Vincent’s former bedroom. He’s also suspicious that Jérémie has come back to Saint-Martial to take over the bakery. Now that Jean-Pierre is deceased, Vincent is expected to become the chief manager of the bakery. Jérémie assures Vincent that he has no intentions of working at the bakery again.

In a conversation with Vincent, Jérémie mentions that he recently broke up with a girlfriend whom he had been dating for three years. The movie eventually shows that Jérémie is bisexual, queer or sexually fluid. Jérémie doesn’t put a label on his sexuality. After a while, it’s pretty obvious that he’s sociopath who will have sex with or try to seduce anybody if it’s a way to get what he wants.

And that’s why there’s another reason why Vincent is highly suspicious of Jérémie: He senses that Martine has a weird crush on Jérémie: Martine treats Jérémie like a second son, but she also seems to be sexually attracted to Jérémie. Vincent is concerned that Jérémie will take advantage of widow Martine’s loneliness.

There’s an even more complicated twist to this dynamic, which further explains Vincent’s apprehension and resentment about Jérémie. When Jérémie used to work at the bakery, Jérémie told Jean-Pierre that he was in love with him. It’s unclear if Jean-Pierre did anything sexual with Jérémie, but Jérémie is the type of person who would at least try to sexually seduce someone he wants to target.

Martine and Vincent know about all Jérémie’s “romantic feelings” for Jean-Pierre, which is why Vincent is alarmed that his mother Martine seems so willing to let Jérémie back into their lives, even if it might be for a few days. The tension starts to grow between Jérémie and Vincent when Vincent sees that Martine is treating Jérémie like a son who has permanently come back home to live with the family.

A local elderly priest named Philippe Griseul (played by Jacques Develay) is a friend of the family and frequently stops by the house to visit. Martine lives near a wooded area, where the priest likes to pick mushrooms. One day, Father Griseul is on one of these mushroom-picking walks when he sees Vincent and Jérémie playfully roughhousing in the woods. It’s not a real fight, but there’s some real anger simmering between Vincent and Jérémie.

Another person who affects the dynamics between Jérémie and the Rigal family is Walter Bonchamp (played by David Ayala), a middle-aged bachelor who lives near Martine. Walter is an eccentric loner who doesn’t know Jérémie very well. But when Jérémie sees Walter again, Jérémie pretends that they were good friends during the time that Jérémie worked at the bakery.

The word “misericordia” is a Latin word for having compassion or pity for someone. And that is the reason why Jérémie is a successful con artist. He’s not handsome, nor is he especially charismatic. But he has a “sad sack” way about him that makes people feel sorry for him and want to offer to help him. Vincent can see right through Jérémie, which is one of the reasons why Jérémie and Vincent clash with each other.

As already revealed in the trailer for “Misericordia,” Vincent disappears and is reported missing to the local authorities. Two unnamed police officers (played by Sébastien Faglain and Salomé Lopes) show up and start investigating. Jérémie is the main person of interest because he was the last-known person to see Vincent alive.

Jérémie denies anything to do with Vincent’s disappearance. The cops put Jérémie under surveillance anyway. He becomes paranoid, which starts to affect what he does. About halfway through the “Misericordia,” the movie shows what happened to Vincent, so there’s no real mystery. The only mystery is if whoever is responsible for Vincent’s disappearance will be caught and held accountable.

Kysyl gives a compelling performance as manipulative Jérémie, who is not as “smooth” as he likes to think he is. Although the other cast members give very good performances, “Misericordia” is effective mainly because Kysyl is convincing in his “Misericordia” role as a con artist who pretends to be a “regular, harmless guy” but is actually the opposite. “Misericordia” has an ending that some viewers might dislike, but it’s an ending that is uncomfortably realistic, considering everything that takes place in this memorable story.

Sideshow/Janus Films released “Misericordia” in select U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2025. The movie was released in France on October 16, 2024.

Review: ‘Eephus,’ starring Keith William Richards, Cliff Blake, Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee, Wayne Diamond, Joe Castiglione and the voice of Frederick Wiseman

March 18, 2025

by Carla Hay

Jeff Saint-Dic, David Torres Jr., Theodore Bouloukos, Ethan Ward, John R. Smith Jr. and Brendan “Crash” Burt in “Eephus” (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

“Eephus”

Directed by Carson Lund

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1994, in Douglas, Massachusetts, the comedy/drama film “Eephus” features a predominantly white group of people (with few African Americans, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Amateur baseball teams Adler’s Paint and the Riverdogs face off agant each other in their last game of the season and their last game in a field that will be demolished.

Culture Audience: “Eephus” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of baseball and movies about amateur athletes.

Patrick Garrigan, Chris Woodwin, Peter Minkarah, Stephen Radochia, Ari Brisbon, Ray Hryb and David Pridemore in “Eephus” (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

People interested in baseball will find a lot to like about “Eephus,” a leisurely comedy/drama about the last game that an amateur team plays in a soon-to-demolished baseball field. People who don’t like baseball might be bored by the movie’s insider talk. There’s a very specific audience that “Eephus” director Carson Lund wants to appeal to with this movie. “Eephus” is a love letter to that audience, told in a language of baseball that is best understood by people who already know the game and culture of baseball.

Writer/director Richard Linklater’s 1993 movie “Dazed and Confused” became a cult classic for teenage stoner comedies. “Eephus” (written by Lund, Michael Basta and Nate Fisher) might do the same for comedies about amateur baseball players. Both movies make viewers feel like they’re “hanging out” with several people in a clearly defined community, during a period of less than 24 hours. It’s not about having an action-filled plot but about having a storytelling vibe that shows a brief glimpse into the lives of ordinary people seeking social acceptance and pleasure in whatever makes them happy.

“Eephus” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the New York Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. The movie was inspired by Lund’s own passion for baseball and his upbringing in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he played baseball in his childhood. “Eephus” is Lund’s feature-film directorial debut.

“Eephus” takes place on a Sunday in October 1994, at Soldiers Field, in suburban Douglas, Massachusetts. The baseball field in the movie was inspired by North Common Baseball Field in Nashua, New Hampshire, but “Eephus” was filmed on location in Douglas. The movie’s title refers to the name of an unnatural curveball pitch that’s intended to confuse the batter because the eephus looks like it’s being pitched in slow motion.

The two teams shown in “Eephus” have been meeting to play games on Sundays at Soldiers Field for years. But the baseball game in this movie is the end of an era. “Eephus” begins with radio announcer Branch Moreland (voiced by Frederick Wiseman, in a cameo role) reporting the news about Soldiers Field being demolished in the near future, so that a new middle school can be built on the site. All of “Eephus” takes place on the field.

The movie begins sometime in the mid-afternoon for a game between Adler’s Paint (the home team whose team colors are red and white) and the Riverdogs (the away team whose team colors are blue and gray). Both teams have players ranging in ages from 30s to 60s. Franny (played by Cliff Blake), the diligent scorekeeper/umpire for the game, is inspired by the real Francis “Frannie” Whitford, a baseball enthusiast from Nashua, who died in 2023, at the age of 67. (“Eephus” has an “in memory of” caption to Whitford in the movie’s end credits.)

The game gets off to a bumpy start because the Riverdogs need nine players to qualify, but a ninth team member named Garrett Furnivall (played by Chris Goodwin) is running late and hasn’t shown up yet. Adler’s Point graciously allows the Riverdogs to participate in the game, on the condition that Garrett needs to be there by the second inning, or else the Riverdogs have to forfeit the game. Garrett (who’s the Riverdogs’ catcher) shows up just in time, so the game continues. But when Garrett goes up to bat, he’s immediately hit by the ball.

Although almost everyone on each team is shown talking, some members of the team have more memorable personalities and more screen time than others. The Adler’s Paint team and the Riverdogs team each has a hot-headed, stubborn player: short-haired and clean-shaven Bobby Crompton (played by Brendan Burt) pitches for Adler’s Paint; long-haired and bearded Rich Cole (played by Ray Hryb) plays left field for the Riverdogs. Graham Morris (played by Stephen Radochia) is Riverdogs’ mild-mannered third baseman, who becomes the target of Rich’s wrath during multiple parts of the game.

Preston Red (played by Jeff Saint-Dic) is the Adler’s Paint friendly third baseman/right fielder, who gets a home run during his first time at bat during the game. Adler’s Paint trivia-spouting pitcher Merritt Nettles (played by “Eephus” co-writer Fisher) is based on real-life Major League Baseball pitcher Zack Greinke. Adler’s Paint outfielder Chuck Poleen (played by Theodore Bouloukos) is the unofficial spokesperson for the team and is usually the peacemaker when conflicts happen between team members.

Other players include scruffy Riverdogs pitcher Troy Carnahan (played by David Pridemore); talkative Adler’s Paint catcher John Faiella (played by John R. Smith Jr.); comedic Adler’s Paint second baseman Tim Bassett (played by Ethan Ward); and jaded Adler’s Paint pitcher Ed Mortanian (played by Keith William Richards), who is usually benched and has to observe from the sidelines.

This game has very few spectators (less than 10) at any given moment. Most of the spectators are family members or significant others of some of the players. Riverdogs second baseman Bill Belinda (played by Russell G. Gannon) has his wife Linda Belinda (played by Timber Holmes) and their middle-school-aged daughter Julie (played by Annie Callan Tisdale) cheering him on at this game. Before the game begins, Julie sings an off-key version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to the teams and the sparse crowd.

Two skateboarders named Reggie (played by Gregory Falatek) and Eddie (played by Luis Vicente) yell at the players to be an annoying distraction. One of the skateboarders yells, “How many touchdowns?” Rich becomes infuriated yells back at them to “fuck off.” Rich, who’s the type of person to hold petty grudges, later goes looking for these two troublemakers in the wooded area because he thinks they deserve to be punished for distracting the players during the game.

Also portraying spectators are former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee (as a character named Lee Henderson) and former Boston Red Sox announcer Joe Castiglione, who has the role of Mr. Mallinari, the owner/operator of a Harry’s Pizza food truck that’s parked near the field. It’s the closest place to buy food during the game, so getting pizza to eat is mentioned several times during the movie. In real life, Lee was known for perfecting the eephus. The “Eephus” character of Lee Henderson is the field’s lawn mower, who suggests that the Riverdogs use the eephus strategy, and then he is unexpectedly pulled into the game for reasons that are shown in the movie.

“Eephus” has a lot of droll commentary for the movie’s comedy. When Bobby tries to steal second base and gets called out, Tim muses out loud: “Is there anything more beautiful than the sun setting on a fat man stealing second base?” A running joke in the movie is bitter Ed complaining to a spectator kid named Jack (played Jack DiFonso), who’s about 9 or 10 years old. When Ed asks Jack if he plays baseball, and Jack says yes, Ed tries to crush the kid’s dreams by giving him this one-word piece of advice: “Don’t.”

The game extends into the night because several extra innings end in a tie. Because the field has no lighting, the players improvise and come up with a way to have lighting on the field. A few of the players have to leave because the game runs so late, but the die-hards stay until the very end. “Eephus” shows how some of the players seem kind of glad that the game has gone on this long, like partygoers who don’t want a farewell party to end.

“Eephus” isn’t overly sentimental, but it does offer some emotionally poignant observations about aging athletes who love playing a sport and struggle with deciding when is the right time to retire from the sport. Because most of the cast members are not professional actors, “Eephus” has a naturalistic tone that might be too casual for some viewers, but the tone perfectly captures the patience required for this baseball game that goes on longer than expected. Simply put: “Eephus” is an admirable cinematic celebration of baseball players whose bodies are no longer in the peak of their youth, but their love of the sport never gets old.

Music Box Films released “Eephus” in select U.S cinemas on March 7, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on April 15, 2025. “Eephus” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 24, 2025.

Review: ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,’ starring Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela and Henry B.J. Phiri

March 7, 2025

by Carla Hay

Susan Chardy and Elizabeth Chisela in “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (Photo by Chibesa Mulumba/A24)

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”

Directed by Rungano Nyoni

Some language in Bemba with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2024, in an unnamed city in Zambia, the dramatic film “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” features a predominantly African cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: During a trip to visit her home country of Zambia, a young woman discovers her uncle dead on a road, and his death opens up emotional wounds about family secrets.

Culture Audience: “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching offbeat films about how adults deal with childhood sexual trauma.

Elizabeth Chisela in “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (Photo by Chibesa Mulumba/A24)

The drama “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” requires patience and curiosity because the storytelling doesn’t get to the point right away. The movie has a patchwork style of narration: Not all of the pieces are perfectly matched, but together they present the big picture. It’s a story about generational trauma from sexual abuse, where the unspoken weighs heavier than what’s said out loud.

Written and directed by Rungano Nyoni, “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The movie made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” takes place in an unnamed city in Zambia, where the movie was filmed on location. It’s shown at the end of the movie why it is titled “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.”

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” begins with a visually striking scene: A woman in her late 30s/early 40s named Shula (played by Susan Chardy) is driving on a remote road at night. She’s dressed in a black vinyl inflatable suit and is wearing a white beaded helmet and wraparound shades. Shula looks like she just stepped out of music video that draws equal parts inspiration from a late 1990s video such as Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and an early 1980s video such as Davd Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes.” It’s mentioned later in the movie that Shula is dressed this way because she came from a costume party.

Shula sees the body of an unconscious or dead man in the middle of the road. When she stops her car and gets out for a closer look, she sees that the man is her 52-year-old uncle Frederick “Fred” Chitampo (played by Roy Chisha), and Fred is definitely deceased. Shula suddenly has a vision of herself as a child when she was about 7 or 8 years old (played by Blessings Bhamjee), and this child version of Shula looks back at the adult Shula gets back into the car.

The first person whom Shula calls is her unnamed father (played by Henry B.J. Phiri), who is Fred’s older brother. Shula’s father tells her to do two things: (1) Lock herself in the vehicle and (2) Send him money for a taxi. Shula’s father doesn’t seem too upset that his brother is dead.

The night that Shula finds the body, she follows her father’s orders to stay locked in the car. During her vigil, Shula sees her cousin Nsansa (played by Elizabeth Chisela) walk down the road. Nsansa also notices the body and inspects it to make sure that Fred is really dead. Nsansa, who has a bottle of beer, is drunk. She appears giddy after she sees that Fred has died.

All three of these family members don’t show any grief over Fred’s death. It’s the first indication that something is “off” with this family. The cause of Fred’s death is never revealed in the movie. Since there was no police investigation, viewers can assume that the authorities decided that Fred died of natural causes.

Shula doesn’t look happy to see Nsansa there. In fact, when Nsansa asks Shula to open the car door to let Nsansa in the car, Shula refuses to open the door. Nsansa bangs on the car door and front passenger window for at least two minutes, demanding to be let inside. Eventually, Shula opens the door.

Nsansa calls the police to report the dead body. The cop on the phone tells her to wait for someone to pick up the corpse. That doesn’t happen until the next morning, when first responders arrive to take the body away. Shula and Nsansa spent the night together in the car.

The rest of “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” shows what happens before, during and after Fred’s funeral in the span of about four or five days. It’s never made clear where Shula currently lives, but it’s implied that it’s somewhere in the United Kingdom. There’s a brief scene of Shula in a hotel room, where she’s on a videoconference call with about 15 work colleagues. Shula is the only person of color on this videoconference call.

These are clues that wherever Shula lives now, it’s a very different culture than the one she’s come back to in Zambia. All of her closest family members live in Zambia, including her parents (her unnamed mother is played by Doris Naulapwa); Nsansa; Shula’s younger cousin Bupe (played by Esther Singini); and Shula’s aunts Ruth (played by Gillian Sakala), Catherine (played by Carol Natasha Mwale), Linda (played by Loveness Nakwiza) and Bukata (played by Bwalya Chipampata).

At the wake for Fred’s funeral, all of the women are wailing and crying—except for Shula, who sits silently with a detached expression on her face. Shula hears eulogies and chatter praising Fred as a great man. And when Shula goes to a copy shop to place an order for invitations to a memorial service for Fred, she has to read the words that describe Fred as a person who was saintly.

After a few private conversations between Shula and Nsansa, they don’t come right out and say what the big family secret is, but it becomes obvious, based on hints. Nsansa, who is always drunk or on the way to getting drunk, is addicted to alcohol to cope with whatever emotional pain she is feeling. Later, Bupe makes a confession that many people in the family don’t want to hear.

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” shows how society’s etiquette of not speaking badly about dead people can affect those left behind who were hurt by the dead person. If the dead person committed horrific crimes and was never held accountable for those crimes, justice can be elusive or unattainable, especially when so many people want the easy way out of denying that the crimes occurred. The choice to stay silent is especially true for some people if the perpetrator is a family member.

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” is an atmospheric cinematic portrait of a family suppressing shame and guilt, no matter how much damage this suppression might cause. Chardy’s gripping performance as Shula is the heart and soul of this movie, which doesn’t present the story in a formulaic way. Shula’s homecoming turns into an awakening that confronts the pain of some very ugly and unsettling truths.

A24 released “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” in select U.S. cinemas on March 7, 2025.

Review: ‘Union’ (2024), starring Chris Smalls, Angelika Maldonado, Derrick Palmer, Natalie Monarrez, Jason Anthony, Brett Daniels and Madeline Wesley

December 26, 2024

by Carla Hay

Christian “Chris” Smalls (center) and Derrick Palmer (third from right, in pink shirt) in “Union” (Photo courtesy of Level Ground Productions)

“Union” (2024)

Directed by Stephen Maing and Brett Story

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City from 2021 to 2022, the documentary film “Union” features a racially diverse group of people (African American, white, Latin and Asian) who are connected in some way to corporate giant Amazon.

Culture Clash: Several past and present employees at Amazon’s JFK8 Fulfillment Center (located in the New York City borough of Staten Island) take action to have a union for the center’s employees, but the union activists get pushback and criticism from Amazon’s management, other Amazon employees, and within the activist group.

Culture Audience: “Union” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries that take a behind-the-scenes look at a “David versus Goliath” story in corporate business, from the perspective of the underdog.

A scene from “Union,” pictured from left to right in middle row: Jason Anthony (with beard and red shirt), Brett Daniels, Christian “Chris” Smalls, Natalie Monarrez (in sunglasses and bandana) and Madeline Wesley (Photo courtesy of Level Ground Productions)

“Union” is a cinéma vérité film that is minimalist almost to a fault. This pro-activist documentary (about the controversial formation of Amazon’s first worker union) is a feel-good underdog story. However, the story is one-sided, has drab pacing, and doesn’t tell enough about union members who aren’t leader Chris Smalls.

Cinéma vérité filmmaking is non-fiction storytelling without narration, re-enactments, animation and other contrived characteristics that are frequently in other documentaries. “Union” barely has a musical score, and there are no “expert” talking head interviews. This “no frills” approach to “Union” works in some ways but doesn’t work in other ways.

Directed by Stephen Maing and Brett Story, “Union” had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Art of Change. The movie also made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, including the New York Film Festival and DOC NYC. “Union” was one of the 15 documentaries selected for the 2025 Academy Awards shortlist (eligible for the final nominations) for Best Documentary Feature Film.

“Union” is told entirely from the point of view of the activists who were involved in creating Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which in 2022, became the first employee union for Amazon, a notoriously anti-union corporate giant. ALU was created for employees at Amazon’s JFK8 Fulfillment Center, located in the New York City borough of Staten Island. The “against all odds” official sanction (by employee voting) for this union to exist was a historic business event that received significant media coverage. Most people who will be interested in watching “Union” already know that this outcome happened. Therefore, there’s not a lot of suspense in watching “Union,” which was filmed from 2021 to 2022.

When a documentary is about an event or conflict that has a fairly well-known outcome, it behooves the documentary filmmakers to present some fascinating behind-the-scenes insights into how this outcome was achieved. In that respect, “Union” mostly delivers if you want an admittedly biased “root for the underdog” approach to this story. However, the movie falls short in giving viewers a deeper understanding of who the key players were in this battle that took place during the time the documentary was filmed.

Early on in “Union,” the movie juxtaposes two types of footage: (1) the Amazon warehouse employees arriving by bus and (2) news footage of the first suborbital space flight for Blue Origin, the space flight company from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Bezos reportedly spent around $5.5 billion for this four-minute flight.

The contrast is obvious: These Amazon warehouse employees (who probably barely make above minimum wage) can’t afford to travel to work by car, while Bezos spends more money on a four-minute space flight than most people will ever earn in their lifetimes. It should be noted that Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon in July 2021, so that he could focus mostly on Blue Origin. Bezos (whose current Amazon title is executive chairman) is still the largest shareholder in Amazon, which has made him one of the richest people in the world.

Even though Bezos’ name is mentioned several times in “Union,” and he’s vilified as the chief corporate villain to Amazon employees who want to unionize, the “Union” documentary leaves out the fact that Bezos was no longer Amazon’s CEO during the making of most of this documentary. It makes “Union” look biased by omitting crucial facts. A epilogue hastily mentions that Amazon officials declined to answer questions for the documentary, but it’s not that hard to include publicly known information about Bezos’ role at Amazon during the time that this documentary was filmed.

It should come as no surprise that “Union” has relentless messaging that Amazon’s management officials are greedy and heartless villains, while the employees who want to form a union are brave and oppressed heroes. The only footage that shows Amazon’s management officials speaking is footage (usually from undercover audio/video taken at Amazon employee meetings) where Amazon’s management tries to squash support for anything related to union activities. Even viewers who agree with the union activities can see that this documentary goes a little too far with its bias.

And that’s why it’s disappointing that “Union” does not go “all in” by showing more of who these union activists really are as people. “Union” is about ALU but keeps most of the ALU members at a vague distance—seen mostly as nameless people at protest rallies or in group meetings. The exception is ALU leader Christian “Chris” Smalls, the only ALU member whose work experience is discussed and his personal life shown in the documentary.

Smalls (a married father, whose home life gets several scenes in the documentary) used to be a mid-level manager at JFK8 until he was fired. “Union” gives no details about the work history of the people who were current Amazon employees at the time this documentary was filmed. After getting fired from Amazon, Smalls put all of his work efforts into forming ALU. The documentary doesn’t give details on how ALU gets funding.

Smalls is talkative, often abrasive, and sometimes arrogant. But in his own foul-mouthed way, he can be a great motivator of people and has above-average persistence. In ALU meetings, Smalls says things such as: “We have to match Amazon’s intensity and power … Right now, Amazon is on their high horse. We need to punch them in the face.”

He is also a better strategist than most of the people who think they are more knowledgeable than he is in how to make this union official. Even with a strategy that ended up working, Smalls makes some mistakes that probably affected people’s perceptions of him as a leader. There are also indications that he’s gotten a bit conceited from the media attention he gets as ALU’s leader.

“Union” does a lot to show that Smalls has a “big personality” but the documentary skimps on a lot of details about the resources needed for this ALU battle. Smalls mentions several times in the documentary that he’s financially struggling because he’s not getting paid enough before the union becomes official. The documentary needed details about ALU’s fundraising and where the money was going during this period of time.

Smalls also mentions that ALU has help from attorneys, but these attorneys are nowhere to be seen in the documentary. And that’s why “Union” is perhaps too narrow in its focus. “Union” has an obvious agenda to make ALU members look like “scrappy, inexperienced underdogs” as much as possible. But as soon as Smalls mentions that the ALU has attorneys, you know this group is getting a lot more help from corporate professionals than what’s shown in the documentary.

All of these are unanswered questions that many viewers might have when there’s scene after scene of ALU trying to get Amazon employees to sign ALU petitions by offering the employees free fast food (such as pizza and hamburgers), free drinks, and free marijuana at makeshift booths stationed in or near the JFK8 parking lot. One of these questions is: “Who’s really paying for all of these giveaways? And how much of that money is from ALU’s budget?” Don’t expect the documentary to answer those questions.

“Union” gets a bit repetitive with multiple scenes of Zoom meetings where ALU members complain about enduring unsafe work conditions; being overworked and underpaid; and getting threats of job termination or job demotion for wanting to join a union. The repetition doesn’t have to do with the complaints themselves. It has to do with the fact that “Union” doesn’t really explain who these disgruntled employees are. If the documentary told us more of about their personal stories, then “Union” would have been a much more impactful movie.

These are the Amazon employees who get more screen time than most of the Amazon employees in “Union”:

  • Angelika Maldonado, the chair of the ALU Workers’ Committee, occasionally clashes with Smalls, but is mostly loyal to him.
  • Derrick Palmer, another Smalls loyalist, was voted ALU’s external vice-president during the making of this documentary
  • Natalie Monarrez was initially a ALU member but quit and became opposed to ALU because she disagreed with ALU’s leadership and strategy.
  • Jason Anthony, who appears to be on the autism spectrum, had an anxiety-ridden meltdown over all the time spends on ALU and threatened to quit when he started to give up hope.
  • Brett Daniels, ALU’s director of organizing, is laid-back and doesn’t try to be the “alpha male” of the group.
  • Madeline Wesley, an optimistic college graduate, is a key organizer for ALU.

Many of the ALU group meetings shown in the documentary are surprisingly bland, except for one meeting that devolves into petty arguing because Smalls scolds a member for being 15 minutes late, even though he frequently excuses himself for being tardy to meetings. The more interesting ALU member interactions are the ones that aren’t official group meetings.

For example, at an ALU recruiting booth, Monarrez confides in Wesley about her concern that ALU leadership is turning into a “boys’ club” where only men get to be at the top. Monarrez also thinks ALU should be led by more experienced union leaders, such as the Teamsters, and ALU should wait for these more experienced leaders to step in and help. Wesley disagrees and says these more experienced leaders aren’t going to arrive in time for ALU to get what they want by ALU’s deadline goals.

Much of “Union” shows ALU members getting petitions signed, planning their next move, and trying to recruit Amazon employees to join ALU or at least vote for the union. ALU has the additional challenge of getting enough petition signatures by people who will still be Amazon employees by the time the petitions need to be submitted and ratified. It’s mentioned that Amazon has a high turnover rate for warehouse employees. And after the peak seasons, the majority of these warehouse employees are almost certain to be laid off and then rehired if they choose to join the company again for the next peak season.

Other information is noticeably absent from “Union.” A few ALU members mention getting wrongfully terminated from Amazon, but the documentary doesn’t follow through to get more details on these terminations. There’s a scene where Smalls and Anthony get arrested because Smalls refused to leave an Amazon parking lot, and Anthony got into a physical confrontation with a cop over it. Smalls and Anthony were obviously bailed out, but the documentary never mentions what happened to these arrest cases.

“Union” gives so much screen time to Smalls and his personal life, while telling almost nothing about the backgrounds and lives of his ALU teammates, the documentary could almost be subtitled “The Chris Smalls Show.” ALU is much more than one man’s vision and truly was a team effort, but the documentary doesn’t give enough proper acknowledgment to Smalls’ subordinates, which is ironic for a documentary that wants to look like it’s a champion for underrepresented and overlooked people.

“Union” acknowledges some of ALU’s internal conflicts but doesn’t adequately explore or examine them. For example, observant viewers will see that Monarrez starts off as one of ALU’s most vocal and active supporters. And then she’s not seen for a great deal of the movie. And then, toward the end of the documentary, Monarrez is abruptly seen again in an interview where she says she quit ALU and will be voting against ALU. After this documentary was filmed, ALU has had even more internal problems, which have been documented in several media reports.

“Union” can be commended for getting exclusive access to filming these activists during the formation of ALU. However, the documentary is more anecdotal than educational, with many questions unanswered or details glossed over or sidelined. Viewers won’t learn anything interesting about the lives of any ALU member after watching “Union.” The documentary is about a “movement” but seems to forget that viewers should know more about the crucial people who made this movement possible.

Level Ground Productions released “Union” in select U.S. cinemas on October 18, 2024. “Union” is available for paid streaming on the movie’s official website and on Gathr.

Review: ‘Oh, Canada’ (2024), starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli and Jacob Elordi

December 19, 2024

by Carla Hay

Richard Gere and Uma Thurman in “Oh, Canada” (Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber)

“Oh, Canada” (2024)

Directed by Paul Schrader

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2023 in Montreal, with flashbacks in the U.S. and Canada from the 1960s to the 1990s, the dramatic film “Oh, Canada” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A famous documentary filmmaker, who is terminally ill with cancer, confesses his past misdeeds during a documentary interview conducted by two of his former students.

Culture Audience: “Oh, Canada” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Paul Schrader and meditative dramas about people looking back on their lives.

Jacob Elordi in “Oh, Canada” (Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber)

“Oh, Canada” doesn’t reach its intended impact as an important movie from filmmaker Paul Schrader. However, this drama about a flawed documentarian looking back on his life has interesting performances from the cast members. This is the type of movie that isn’t horrible, but viewers should not expect “Oh, Canada” to be among the best films from Schrader or the main stars of the movie.

Written and directed by Schrader, “Oh, Canada” is based on Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone.” “Oh, Canada” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and also screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2024 New York Film Festival. The movie takes place in Montreal, on December 23, 2023, but the story’s protagonist tells memories (seen in flashbacks) that go back to the 1960s.

“Oh, Canada” begins by showing three documentarians setting up a library/study room for an interview in the Montreal home of acclaimed documentarian Leonard “Leo” Fife (played by Richad Gere), who is terminally ill with cancer. (The movie never says what type of cancer he has.) The interview is for a CBC documentary about Leo’s life. Leo says he wants to give final confessions about his life for this interview.

The people conducting the interview are two of Leo’s former students, who are also successful documentarians on their own: Malcolm (played by Michael Imperioli) and his wife Diana (played by Victoria Hill), whom Leo jokingly says are the “Mr. and Mrs. Ken Burns of Canada.” Malcolm and Diana are accompanied by their 24-year-old assistant Sloan Ambrose (played by Penelope Mitchell), who is star-struck by Leo.

Also present during this interview are Leo’s wife/producing partner Emma (Uma Thurman) and Leo’s nursing assistant Rene (played by Caroline Dhavernas), who are there to observe and to make sure that Leo doesn’t overexert himself during this interview. Emma was a student of Leo’s at the same time as when Malcolm and Diana were Leo’s students. Although Leo’s voice can be heard for the movie’s narration of his internal and external thoughts, another narrator can be heard in the movie: Leo’s adult son Cornel (played by Zach Shaffer), whom Leo abandoned in 1968, when Cornel was abut 4 or 5 years old.

The year 1968 was a pivotal year in Leo’s life. It was the year that he became a draft dodger during the Vietnam War by moving permanently from his native United States to Canada. Jacob Elordi portrays the young Leo in flashback scenes. Because Leo’s story is told from his perspective, viewers can speculate that he is an unreliable narrator. Leo makes unflattering confessions about himself that he knows will upset Emma, but he seems to want to ease his conscience before he dies.

“Oh, Canada” jumps around a lot in the timeline, but viewers essentially find out that Leo abandoned his first two wives and children. His first wife Amy (also played by Hill) was 18 years old when she had an unplanned pregnancy. She and Leo apparently had a quickie marriage, she gave birth to a daughter named Heidi, and the marriage ended in divorce after Leo abandoned them.

In the interview, Leo would rather talk about his time with his second wife Alicia Fife (played by Kristine Froseth), the mother of Cornel. Alicia was pregnant with another child in 1968. Alica and Leo were visiting Alicia’s wealthy parents in Richmond, Virginia, and were planning to buy a home in Vermont, where Leo had been offered a teaching position at a university. Flashback memories show that Leo and Alicia were excited about her pregnancy and about their planned move to Vermont.

However, during this visit, Alicia’s businessman father Benjamin “Ben” Chapman (played by Peter Hans Benson) and Ben’s brother Jackson Chapman (played by Scott Jaeck) offered Leo a job as CEO of the family business, which would require Leo to remain in Virginia. Ben and Jackson tell Leo that they want to keep their business in the family. They think Leo is the only suitable candidate because Ben’s and Jackson’s other children (all daughters) are married to men who “aren’t fit to run a lemonade stand.” Leo asks for a few weeks to think about this job offer.

Meanwhile, flashbacks of Leo’s memories reveal that he is a serial seducer of women and committed infidelity for some of these seductions. In 1968, he became a documentarian as a “fluke,” when he was working at a trucking farm in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and he filmed crop duster planes dispensing chemicals on the farm crops. This chemical turned out to be Agent Orange. Leo’s footage was used for his breakthrough 1970 documentary “In the Mist,” which established Leo as a documentarian with a specialty in exposing corruption.

“Oh, Canada” shows snippets from Leo’s other documentaries, but “Oh, Canada” is more concerned with Leo exposing his own personal corruption. The movie shows the events leading up to Leo deciding to permanently move to Canada as a draft dodger. Although Sloan tells Leo that she thinks he’s a “hero” for being a draft dodger to protest the Vietnam War, Leo’s confessions reveal that his reasons for dodging the draft were actually selfish motivations to abandon his family and to start over with a new life.

Emma knew that Leo was previously married with children, but it upsets her to hear the candid details about just how much Leo hurt other people with his self-centered and reckless actions. At various points during the interview, Emma wants the interview to stop because she claims Leo is “confused” because of his medication and his illness. However, Leo wants to continue and finish the interview.

“Oh, Canada” has a narrative that is purposely disjointed, as if to depict the hazy memories of a terminally ill cancer patient. During some of the re-enactments, Leo sees himself in his youthful memories either as his youthful self or as his current elderly self. Leo also remembers Sloan as looking like Alicia. And memories of time that he spent in 1968 with an artist painter acquaintance named Stanley Reinhart (played by Jake Weary) and Stanley’s wife Gloria (also played by Thurman) are also fuzzy. Leo remembers Gloria (one his sexual conquests) as looking like Emma.

“Oh, Canada” uses these twists of memory and perception in a way that might be considered artistic or might be considered off-putting to viewers. A flashback scene with Leo, Emma and an adult Cornel suggests that Emma already knew that Leo was a deadbeat dad, but Emma just doesn’t want Leo to make confessions about it on camera for a documentary about his life. There are also interpersonal dynamics at play between Malcolm, Diana and Sloan that affect what happens in the story.

“Oh, Canada” doesn’t have any major surprises, but the cast members give performances that are compelling enough if viewers to want to know how the movie ends. Gere is quite skillful at portraying a world-weary, jaded person who is coming to terms with his shortcomings as a form of self-reflection and perhaps to seek a little bit of redemption. Elordi, Thurman and the other cast members capably handle their roles in “Oh, Canada,” but don’t do anything outstanding that takes the movie to a higher level of quality.

“Oh, Canada” makes astute observations about how fame affects what famous people choose to convey about themselves for public perception and how the private reality might be very different. There is also some irony toward the end of the movie about documentary ethics and Leo as a “role model” for the type of exposé filmmaking that made him famous. “Oh, Canada” effectively shows how this documentary filmmaker tells his life story when he knows his life will soon end, but he still can’t resist the urge to make selective edits.

Kino Lorber released “Oh, Canada” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024.

Review: ‘Hard Truths’ (2024), starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown and Jonathan Livingstone

December 7, 2024

by Carla Hay

David Webber, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Tuwaine Barrett in “Hard Truths” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“Hard Truths” (2024)

Directed by Mike Leigh

Culture Representation: Taking place in London in 2023, the dramatic film “Hard Truths” features a predominantly black cast of characters (with some white people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Two sisters with opposite personalities deal with various conflicts caused by the volatile sister.

Culture Audience: “Hard Truths” will appeal primarily to fans of filmmaker Mike Leigh, the movie’s headliners, and dramas that have uncomfortable but realistic portrayals of dysfunction in families.

Ani Nelson, Michele Austin, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, David Webber, Sophia Brown and Tuwaine Barrett  in “Hard Truths” (Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)

“Hard Truths” is a raw and realistic portrayal of how toxic anger and untreated mental illness can affect a family. Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives a fierce and complex performance in this drama filled with verbal abuse and co-dependency. “Hard Truths” shows in authentic ways how family members often don’t know how to cope when someone in the family is mentally ill and is the type of person who would refuse treatment for this mental illness.

Written and directed by Mike Leigh, “Hard Truths” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and screened at other festivals in 2024, such as the New York Film Festval. The movie takes place in London in 2023 and was filmed on location. “Hard Truths” is the second movie collaboration between Leigh and Jean-Baptiste, who previously worked together in 1996’s “Secrets & Lies,” which received five Oscar nominations: Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Leigh; Best Supporting Actress for Jean-Baptiste; Best Actress for Brenda Blethyn; and Best Picture.

“Hard Truths” tells the story of two sisters with opposite personalities, but the more troubled sister gets the most screen time. Pansy Deacon (played by Jean-Baptiste), a homemaker, is constantly pessimistic, angry and argumentative. Her younger sister Chantelle (played by Michele Austin), who works as a hair stylist, is optimistic, cheerful and generally a peacemaker. Pansy and Chantelle were raised by a single mother named Pearl, who died in 2018.

Pansy lives with her husband Curtley (played by David Webber) and their 22-year-old son Moses (played by Tuwaine Barrett) in a middle-class house that Pansy likes to keep as clean and tidy as possible. It’s shown throughout the movie that Pansy has a lot of rage and paranoia. She starts arguments with almost everyone she comes into contact with, but then she makes it sound like the people she’s arguing with are the ones who are out to get her.

Pansy is also fearful of animals. Even the thought of a fly or other small insect getting into her house will make Pansy very upset, and she will most likely go into a rant about it. It’s one of the reasons why Pansy doesn’t like going into the house’s small backyard: She doesn’t even want to see any insects or other small animals. And she doesn’t like the thought of anyone walking on the backyard grass because she thinks they could possibly bring grass and dirt on the bottom of their shoes into the house.

Curtley is the owner of a small business called C.J. Plumbing. Moses is unemployed. Patsy deeply resents that Curtley has not trained Moses to work in Curtley’s business. Instead, Curtley works with an assistant named Virgil (played by Jonathan Livingstone), whom Pansy despises. Patsy constantly berates and insults Curtley and Moses, who don’t talk much and have all the indications of being worn down by her verbal abuse.

It’s in stark contrast to Chantelle, a single mother, who has a happy and healthy relationship with her two bachelorette daughters, who are both in their 20s: Kayla (played by Ani Nelson) works in marketing at a beauty company, while Aleisha (played by Sophia Brown) works as a paralegal. Chantelle has the type of open relationship with her daughters that Kayla and Aleisha talk about their nightlife activities and their love interests with Chantelle, who is content to have her life revolve around her work and her daughters. Kayla and Aleisha have upbeat and friendly personalities, which are no doubt influenced by the fact that they grew up in a happy household with a loving parent.

“Hard Truths” is a “slice of life” movie that shows all of these characters (except for Virgil) inside and outside ther homes. During the course of the movie, bits and pieces of information are revealed about Pansy that are explanations for why she is the way that she is. And a portrait emerges of someone who is actually depressed but uses anger to lash out at people. It’s open to interpretation how long Pansy has had these issues with anger and mental health.

Pansy constantly complains of aches and pains in various parts of her body. But scenes of her during a doctor’s appointment and during a dentist’s appointment show that these aches and pains are probably in her imagination because they seem accustomed to Pansy being a difficult complainer. At the end of the doctor’s appointment, Pansy is miffed that they didn’t even do a blood test or X-ray test for her. It’s an indication that the medical professionals who deal with Pansy know that there’s nothing wrong with her physically, which is why they didn’t bother doing the medical tests that she expected to get.

In addition to apparently having hypochondria, Pansy often sleeps during the day, which is an obvious sign that she’s depressed. And multiple scenes in the movie show that Pansy is easily frightened when she’s awakened by someone. When she’s startled out of sleep by someone, she acts as if that person was about to attack her. An early scene in the movie shows Pansy suddenly waking up and looking as if she just had a nightmare.

A lot of Pansy’s vicious rants might get laughs from viewers, even though someone like Pansy in real life wouldn’t be considered amusing. It’s eventually revealed that Pansy has had a lot of feelings of inferiority and resentment, going back to her childhood, when her father abandoned the family. Her mother Pearl often left Pansy in charge of taking care of Chantelle because Pearl was busy working.

Pansy is the type of person who wants people to be as miserable as she is. “Hard Truths” doesn’t really judge Pansy, but the movie shows in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that bullies such as Pansy are often insecure cowards, and there are reasons why they are so emotionally damaged. And if a person with these anger issues is mentally ill, will that person get professional help (therapy) for these issues?

A turning point in the story happens on Mother’s Day, when Pansy and Chantelle visit their mother’s grave and then go back to Chantelle’s place for a Mother’s Day lunch with Curtley, Moses, Kayla and Aleisha. It’s in these scenes that Pansy shows a vulnerable side that doesn’t erase all the awful things she’s said and done, but it provides a deeper understanding of who Pansy really is when she isn’t scolding people or causing arguments.

Jean-Baptiste gives an intense performance that grabs viewers by the throat and doesn’t let go. Pansy is like an emotional arsonist who causes damage but then would be the type of person to blame whoever sold her the things that she used to start the fire. Jean-Baptiste’s performance does not make Pansy a one-dimensional villain but someone who is very complicated and hurts people because Pansy is deeply hurt herself.

As showy as Jean-Baptiste’s performance is, also effective are the performances of Webber and Barrett, who have the challenge of portraying people (Curtley and Moses), who are living lives of quiet misery. Webber is particularly skillful at showing the emotional pain in Curtley’s eyes in depicting someone who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. Moses is tall and overweight, but Barrett does an excellent job of showing that despite Moses’ large size, Moses feels very small when it comes to his self-esteem. It’s implied that Moses uses food to cope with his insecurities and the stresses he has from living with Pansy.

There are signs of co-dependence in this family. Curtley’s identity is wrapped up in being the “saintly spouse,” which is why he is so entrenched in the co-dependence that he has with domineering Pansy. If Pansy got help for her mental health problems and actually treated people with respect, where would that leave Curtley, who’s gotten used to being the morally superior spouse?

Chantelle is someone who doesn’t like to see the family in turmoil, but she’s not equipped or doesn’t want to deal with what can be done to help solve these problems. There are a lot of things that remain unspoken in “Hard Truths,” including how some families consider psychiatric therapy to be a stigma or taboo. No one dares to suggest to Pansy that she get help for her obvious mental illness because Pansy is the type of person who doesn’t think she’s mentally ill.

“Hard Truths” is not a preachy movie that suggests religion is the answer to the family’s problems. Nor is “Hard Truths” a “wish fulfillment” movie where the main character has a moment of clarity and suddenly decides to change her ways. “Hard Truths,” like the title says, takes a hard look at what can happen when anger and resentment are left to fester and can cause damage if not dealt with properly. It’s damage that all too often affects people in the worst ways, but “Hard Truths” shows in brutally honest ways that there is no magical and perfect solution.

Bleecker Street released “Hard Truths” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 10, 2025.

Review: ‘No Other Land,’ starring Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham

December 4, 2024

by Carla Hay

Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham in “No Other Land” (Photo courtesy of Antipode Films and Yabayay)

“No Other Land”

Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor

 Arabic, Hebrew and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2019 to 2023, the documentary film “No Other Land” features working-class and middle-class Palestinian and Israeli people in the Palestine’s West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Culture Clash: Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta resist the demolition of their homes and pressure to evacuate from Israeli military personnel, while Palestinian and Israeli documentarians film what happens.

Culture Audience: “No Other Land” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in seeing raw and unflinching footage of a West Bank community affected by the ongoing war for this area.

A scene from “No Other Land” (Photo courtesy of Antipode Films and Yabayay)

“No Other Land” can be brutal in its observations of West Bank turmoil. However, this courageous documentary has a powerful message about how Israelis and Palestinians can develop friendships during political conflicts that have existed for centuries. This documentary by no means puts a sentimental spin on all the horrors of war. However, it offer glimmers of hope that not everyone can be divided by hate and prejudice that are based on nationality or religion.

“No Other Land” had its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and subsequently screened and numerous other film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The movie won the 2024 Gotham Award for Best Documentary and is nominated for Best Documentary for the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards. “No Other Land” is the feature-film directorial debut of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who all edited “No Other Land” and are part of a Palestinian-Israeli collective. Adra (who is Palestinian) and Abraham (who is Israeli) appear on camera throughout the entire documentary.

Abraham and Adra are two friends in a war zone that expects them to be enemies. When Adra introduces Abraham to people in the community, and the community members find out that he’s Israeli, they express surprise but are not hostile to him. The intention of showing this type of footage is to demonstrate that even during war, civilians understand that militaries and other areas of government are the ones waging the war, while innocent citizens are often caught in the middle.

Adra is the documentary’s narrator and can often be seen filming with his camera, although Szor (who is not seen on camera) is credited as the documentary’s cinematographer. “No Other Land” (which was filmed from 2019 to 2023) documents what happened in the villages of Masafer Yatta, a region of Palestine’s West Bank where Adra and his family live. The documentary was completed in October 2023, the month of the Hamas-led massacre on Israel that occurred on October 7, 2023.

Because Adra provides the narration, most of this documentary is from his perspective. It’s explained in the beginning of the movie that Adra grew up in a family of activists. (His parents’ first names are not mentioned in the documentary.) One of his earliest memories from his childhood is seeing his father arrested in their home. He also remembers going to his first protest at 7 years old. And he also has memories of herding sheep when he was a boy.

Adra’s other family members who are seen in “No Other Land” are his older brother and his older brother’s son Elias, who is about 5 years old in the documentary footage. Although Adra’s parents are still politically active, Adra says that more recently, his father’s gas station has become the center of his father’s life. Adra doesn’t seem sure of what he wants to do with his own life. A scene in the movie shows Adra telling Abraham that Adra at one time studied law, but “I lost hope in it.”

However, there’s no doubt that Adra felt a sense of urgency to film all the chaos going on his community, where Palestinian residents are being pressured to evacuate because an Israeli court determined that the villages of Masafer Yatta could be destroyed to build Israeli military training operations. “I started filming where it started to end,” Adra says in a voiceover of the beginning of this takeover.

Viewers of “No Other Land” will see Israeli soldiers demolishing houses by bulldozer without warning, forcing many of the Palestinian residents to flee in caves. Some of the now-homeless people leave the area in fear. Others are defiant and refuse to leave because, as one woman says, they have “no other land.” This woman (whose first name is not revealed in the documentary) is featured prominently when her adult son becomes a victim of gun violence.

A warning to sensitive viewers: “No Other Land” also shows people getting shot or assaulted for trying to defend themselves or trying to prevent invading soldiers from taking essential items. There’s a scene where a fight breaks out when Israeli soldiers try to confiscate a family’s portable generator. During this fight, a man in his 20s named Harun Abu Aram is shot by a soldier, which causes Aram to be paralyzed from the shoulders down.

His grieving single mother (the woman who made the “no other land” comment) is also the mother of an underage girl, who is shown over this four-year period, when she was approximately 4 to 8 years. Aram’s mother is devastated by what happened to him and has the added stress of trying to find a new home after the family home was destroyed by soldiers. The people in the community are outraged by the shooting of Aram. Protests in the streets are held, with people holding signs that say things such as “Justice for Harun.”

“No Other Land” also shows candid conversations between Adra and Abraham when they are alone together. Abraham, who is a journalist, tells Adra: “Learning Arabic changed my political views.” Abraham also says that the Israeli military tried to recruit him for an intelligence job, but he refused.

At the time this documentary was filmed, Adra and Abraham were both bachelors with no children. Abraham asks Adra if Adra has plans to start a family someday. Adra has a pained expression on his face when he answers, “It’s complicated. There is no stability in this land.” Abraham often looks like he feels guilty that his home life is stable because he has the privilege of not living in an area that is being destroyed by military forces.

Although it would be easy to assume that “No Other Land” has an anti-Israel message, it is not that type of documentary. “No Other Land” is not meant to answer the question of whether or not people of any nationality who kill in the name of war can lose some part of their humanity. Rather, “No Other Land” shows the human cost of suffering during a war and shows in unflinching ways that war can be hell for everyone.

Antipode Films and Yabayay released “No Other Land” in select U.S. cinemas on November 1, 2024. The movie will be re-released in New York City on January 31, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on February 7, 2025.

Review: ‘Dahomey’ (2024), an absorbing documentary about the return of stolen African artifacts and the long-term effects of colonial oppression

November 30, 2024

by Carla Hay

A worker looking at a statue of King Béhanzin in “Dahomey” (Photo courtesy of MUBI)

“Dahomey”

Directed by Mati Diop

French with subtitles

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Dahomey,” filmed in 2021 and 2022, features a predominantly African group of people (with some white people) in Africa’s Republic of Benin (formerly known as Dahomey) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: The documentary follows the journey of artifacts that were stolen from Dahomey by French colonials in the 1890s and returned from France to the artifacts’ native homeland n 2021.

Culture Audience: “Dahomey” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries that take an unusual artistic approach to historical stories affected by colonialism.

A student speaking at the University of Abomey-Calavi in “Dahomey” (Photo courtesy of MUBI)

“Dahomey” gives a narration voice to African artifacts that were taken by France and returned to their African homeland in 2021. This highly unique and artistic documentary invites viewers to contemplate how the artifacts represent stolen histories and oppressed cultures. It’s the type of documentary that is best appreciated by viewers who are open to watching non-fiction films that don’t follow traditional formats. “Dahomey” is only 68 minutes long, but its slow pacing might make some viewers feel like the movie is much longer than 68 minutes.

Directed by Mati Diop, “Dahomey” had its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear (the festival’s top prize), which is a rare accomplishment for a documentary. “Dahomey” has since screened at numerous other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. “Dahomey” is Senegal’s official entry for Best International Feature Film for the 2025 Academy Awards. “Dahomey” is the first documentary feature directed by Diop, who is known for being a director and actress in fictional feature films.

The African kingdom of Dahomey was under French rule from 1895 to 1960, when Dahomey regained its independence. Dahomey was renamed Benin in 1975. Benin has undergone numerous coups and political upheavals, with constant division over whether or not Benin’s government should be socialist. There are lingering effects of the country’s colonial rule by France: French is Benin’s official language, and Catholicism is the majority religion in Benin.

The beginning of “Dahomey” shows this caption superimposed over footage of a boat in the water: “November 9, 2021: Twenty-six royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey are due to leave Paris, returning to their land of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. These artifacts were among the thousands looted by French colonial troops during the invasion of 1892. For them, 130 years of captivity are coming to an end.”

“Dahomey” is mostly a cinéma vérité documentary, with no interviews, no animation and no re-enactments with actors. What makes “Dahomey” so unusual is that the collective “voice” of these 26 artifacts is the narration in several parts of the documentary. Diop and Malkenzy Orcel (a Haitian writer who is the narration’s haunting voice) wrote the narration for “Dahomey” as speculation of what these artifacts would say if they could speak during this journey from France to Benin.

The narration expresses an array of emotions, including curiosity, fear, sadness, joy, pride and defiance. An early thought expressed in the narration says during the trip, “I journeyed so long in my mind, but it was so dark in this foreign place that I lost myself in my dreams, becoming one with these walls, cut off from the land of my birth, as if I were dead. There are thousands of us on this night. We all bear the same scars.”

The voice then laments, “They have named me 26. Not 24. Not 30. Just 26. Why don’t they call me by my real name? Don’t they know it?” Later, when boxes of the artifacts are being loaded on an airplane, the narration voice says: “I’m torn between the fear of not being recognized by anyone and not recognizing everything.”

All the people who appear in the documentary are not identified by their names when they appear on screen. Anonymous workers unload the artifacts and inspect the artifacts when they arrive in Benin. An unnamed supervisor clinically lists the physical characteristics of the artifacts during an inspection. Unfortunately, “Dahomey” gives detailed information about only a select number—not all—of the 26 artifacts.

Viewers see that a brown statue of King Ghezo has arrived in “average” condition and is made of painted wood, metal and fibers. The statue weighs about 220 kilograms or 485 pounds. Another striking-looking artifact is a red statue of King Glele, which shows him with a horse’s upper body and a human lower body. This statue is also declared as being in “average condition.” A worker begins to sing when he is tasked with inspecting an ebony statue of King Béhanzin, who was the rule of Dahomey from 1890 to 1894.

The artifacts get a hero’s welcome from bystanders on the streets as the artifacts are transported in vehicles before they are put on display. (The artifacts have been on display at the Benin presidential palace and have gone on an exhibition tour across Benin.) The crowds are clearly not cheering about the real or perceived monetary value of these treasures. They are cheering because the return of these artifacts are about an acknowledgement that French colonials stole a lot of historical culture from this nation, which is now getting some of it back through these artifacts.

But not everyone in Benin is happy about the return of these artifacts. The last half of the documentary shows a civil discussion among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi, where they gather in an assembly room and express differing opinions on the arrival of these artifacts. Some students think that out of the approximately 7,000 known artifacts that were stolen by France, returning only 26 is just a token gesture. Other students think that the 26 artifacts beng returned is a good start to healing some of the damage caused by colonialism.

A female student says that she cried for 15 minutes straight after seeing the artifacts for the first time and is one of the people who think that it’s insulting that only 26 artifacts were returned. Another female student comments that the return of the artifacts has more to do with politics than history. A male student says of France president Emmanuel Macron’s decision to return the artifacts: “Macron didn’t do it because we asked. He did it to boost his brand.”

Later, an African American woman who sees the artifacts on display says that there’s a parallel between the return of these artifacts and the possibility that descendants of enslaved Africans can get reparations. She gives a monologue that has a tone of hope that progress will be made.

“Dahomey” is not interested in taking sides on any political issues. In its own thoughtful and observant ways, “Dahomey” is a documentary that shows how the return of these artifacts have opened up discussions about how national pride and colonialism can affect people in the past, present and future. “Dahomey” is not a story about inanimate objects. It’s a story about living history.

MUBI released “Dahomey” in select U.S. cinemas on October 25, 2024.

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