Tag: Telluride Film Festival

Review: ‘One to One: John & Yoko,’ starring John Lennon and Yoko Ono

April 10, 2025

by Carla Hay

A 1972 photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in “One to One: John & Yoko” (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

“One to One: John & Yoko”

Directed by Kevin Macdonald; co-directed by Sam Rice-Edwards

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1971 to 1973, primarily in New York City, the documentary film “One to One: John & Yoko” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few Asians, Latin people and African Americans) discussing the period of time when John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were outspoken sociopolitical activists during the first few years that they lived in New York City.

Culture Clash: Lennon’s and Ono’s left-wing liberal political views and the couple’s celebrity influence made them targets of the right-wing conservative then-U.S. President Richard Nixon, whose administration put the couple under surveillance and immigration scrutiny.

Culture Audience: “One to One: John & Yoko” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Lennon, Ono, the Beatles and documentaries about rock music, pop culture and political activism in the 1970s.

A 1969 photo of Yoko Ono, Kyoko Cox and John Lennon in “One to One: John & Yoko” (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

“One to One: John & Yoko” is named after the One to One charity concerts (headlined by spouses John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a member of the Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band) that took place on August 30, 1972 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, as a fundraiser for the Willowbrook State School for disabled children. There were two concerts for the event: one concert was held in the afternoon, and the other concert was held in the evening. Die-hard fans will already be familiar with many of the concert performances in the documentary. The movie is more interesting with its previously unreleased archival material, such as recordings of John Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s phone conversations. In this all-archival documentary, the concert footage is prominent, but it’s not the main purpose of the film.

Directed by Kevin Macdonald, “One to One: John & Yoko” had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival and subsequently had screenings at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The One to One concert performances were not only Lennon’s first full-length concerts as a solo artist after the 1970 breakup for Lennon’s former band The Beatles but the concerts were also Lennon’s last public performances where he did a full set of songs. Highlights from Lennon’s performances at the One to One concerts were released in 1986 as a John Lennon album and home video titled “Live in New York City.”

“One to One: John & Yoko” features restored and remastered concert footage that includes Ono performing “Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow),” a song that was not in the “Live in New York City” compilation. Sean Ono Lennon (the son of Lennon and Ono) produced and remixed the documentary’s score music and serves as one of the movie’s executive producers. Sam Rice-Edwards co-directed and edited “One to One: John & Yoko,” which has Macdonald, Peter Worsley and Alice Ebb as producers. Other performers at the One to One concerts included Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie Safka (also known as just Melanie) and Sha Na Na, but they are only seen in this documentary in the all-star finale when Lennon led a sing-along of “Give Peace a Chance.”

The documentary aims to serve as a time capsule of what was going on in the lives of Lennon and Ono (who got married in 1969) during the years 1971 to 1973, the first years that the couple made New York City their main home base. Lennon (who was born and raised in England) and Ono (who was born and raised in Japan) still maintained a home in England throughout their marriage. On December 8, 1980, Lennon (at the age of 40) was tragically murdered by a lone gunman outside of Lennon’s home in New York City. Lennon’s murderer was sentenced to life in prison.

Lennon and Ono said in interviews that they spent of a lot of their free time watching TV. The documentary has a clip of Lennon quipping in an interview that TV is “the window of the world.” Much of the documentary consists of news clips and pop culture tidbits to give context to the period of time that’s covered in the movie. Sometimes, the clips are well-edited. Other times, the clips look like a hodgepodge of things thrown together to fill up time in the documentary.

These news clips include coverage of the Vietnam War and the 1971 deadly prison rebellion Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. There’s also footage from TV journalist Geraldo Rivera’s 1972 WABC-TV documentary “Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace,” which exposed Willowbrook to be a hellish, understaffed institution that abused and neglected its child residents. Rivera was the person credited with persuading Lennon to perform at the One to One concerts, which were intended to raise money to reform Willowbrook. The pop culture clips, which are less substantial than the news footage, include commercials for Coca-Cola, footage from the TV game show “The Price Is Right” and scenes from the family drama “The Waltons,” which was a popular series at the time.

The documentary also includes clips (video and audio) of interviews that Lennon and Ono did during this time period, including their appearances on “The Mike Douglas Show” and “The Dick Cavett Show.” In various other interviews, Ono talks abut feminism and about the racist bullying, death threats and physical attacks (such as hair pulling and worse) that she received from people who wrongfully blamed her for breaking up the Beatles. Lennon praises Ono for being a strong and creative woman.

Lennon’s attitude about the Beatles was summed up in an interview quote included in the documentary: “I don’t want to recreate the past. I want to be me now.” Ono takes issue with the other former members of the Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) by saying that she doesn’t get enough credit for all the compliments that she gave to the Beatles in the media. Ono bitterly comments that McCartney, Harrison and Starr never gave the same compliments to her in the media.

Lennon and Ono both talk about the emotional pain of not seeing Ono’s daughter Kyoko Cox for years, due to a custody battle that Ono was having with Ono’s ex-husband Tony Cox, who was Kyoko’s father. There is no mention of Lennon’s son Julian, who was living with Lennon’s ex-wife Cynthia at the time. Even though there was no custody battle between Julian’s parents, it’s been well-documented (but not mentioned in this documentary) that Julian had a complicated relationship with his father, whom he felt neglected him during much of Julian’s childhood.

“One to One: John & Yoko” is at its best when it shows the evolution of Lennon and Ono as sociopolitical activists. The couple famously spent their 1969 honeymoon doing a Bed-In for Peace, where they stayed in bed in two separate one-week periods (one week in Montreal, another week in Amsterdam) to promote world peace. By 1971, as residents of the United States, the couple became more outspoken against the controversial Vietnam War. As the documentary points out, it’s one thing for celebrities to speak about their political views. It’s another thing for celebrities to use their influence to make a difference in legal and political situations.

And that’s what Lennon and Ono did when they performed a song at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, an event for left-wing activist/poet John Sinclair, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints. The rally took place at the University of Michigan’s Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which was Sinclair’s home state. Grammy-winning superstar Wonder, Bob Seger and Phil Ochs were among the other performers at the rally, which was filmed for the televised documentary “Ten for Two: The John Sinclair Freedom Rally.”

As a result of the rally, Sinclair was let out of prison. It put the U.S. government on notice that Lennon and Ono had the power to influence public opinion and outcomes of political oppression. Because of this event and the couple’s other high-profile activism, declassified FBI documents have since confirmed that Lennon and Ono were put under U.S. government surveillance and were targeted for immigrant visa problems. Lennon was threatened with deportation and had to go to court to fight these visa problems. Audio clips from recorded phone calls and interviews reveal that Lennon knew that his private phones were tapped, and the U.S. government was listening in on his conversations.

Lennon’s and Ono’s social circles began to include poet Allen Ginsberg and left-wing activist Jerry Rubin, who co-founded the Youth International Party (YIP), also known as the Yippies. Rubin, who was considered a leader of the counterculture/anti-establishment movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, became such a close confidante of Lennon and Ono, he convinced them to be part of a Free the People tour (a liberal counterculture event mixing politics and music) that was also supposed to have Bob Dylan as a co-headliner. The tour had been planned to culminate at the 1972 Republican National Convention, which was held in Miami.

Phone conversations between Lennon, Ono, Lennon’s manager Allen Klein reveal some of the behind-the-scenes drama and negotiations involved in the couple’s activism. For the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Klein can be heard objecting to Lennon’s idea to perform the song “Attica State” (which is on Lennon’s 1972 album “Some Time in New York City”) because Klein thinks it’s too much of a controversial political statement. Lennon compromises and says he’ll do another one of his original songs instead. That song was “John Sinclair,” a song that he wrote specifically for the event. “John Sinclair” is also on “Some Time in New York City” album.

There was even more turmoil over Dylan’s involvement in the Free the People tour. In a phone call, Ono asks writer A.J. Weberman (who has been called outside of this documentary a “Dylanologist,” a “Dylan expert” and a “Dylan stalker”) to stop harassing Dylan because she wants Dylan to do the tour. Weberman says he will make an apology to Dylan. By this time, Dylan was having second thoughts about doing the tour and backed out before any official contracts were signed.

Even though Dylan had a “counterculture” image, he was reportedly wary of how the tour would affect his future business prospects. In the end, the Free the People tour didn’t happen. Lennon and Ono also dropped Rubin from their circle of friends. The documentary has a more diplomatic way of putting it by saying that Lennon and Ono “parted ways” with Rubin.

“One to One: John & Yoko” doesn’t have all the songs featured on “Live in New York City.” In addition to “Give Peace a Chance,” the other songs performed in “One to One: John & Yoko” are “Power to the People”; “Come Together” (a song originally recorded by the Beatles); “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)”; “Hound Dog” (a song originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton and made more famous by Elvis Presley’s version of the song); “Cold Turkey”; “Mother”; and “Imagine.”

An epilogue mentions that in August 1973, Lennon and Ono moved out of their relatively small apartment in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village region to a larger apartment in the luxury Dakota building in Manhattan’s Upper West Side region. This move to the Dakota also marked a new chapter in their lives. The documentary doesn’t mention that not long after Lennon and Ono moved to the Dakota, the couple separated for about 18 months (beginning in the summer of 1973 and ending in early 1975), when he lived mostly in Los Angeles with their personal assistant May Pang, who became Lennon’s mistress because Ono demanded it. Pang’s memoirs and the 2023 documentary “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story” have details about this marital separation period of Lennon’s life, when he self-admittedly was abusing alcohol and drugs.

Because “One to One: John & Yoko” was approved by the Lennon estate, these are the messy details of his life that aren’t going to be in this type of documentary. What is presented in this documentary is undoubtedly carefully curated, but still has some meaning in showing how even a world-famous celebrity as Lennon got backlash because he took risks and stood up for the political causes that meant a lot to him. Ono was a willing partner who also went through her own difficulties. “One to One: John & Yoko” doesn’t try to make Lennon and Ono look perfect but makes them look like two celebrities who were aware of the privileges and burdens of fame and did what they could to make the best of it.

Magnolia Pictures will release “One to One: John & Yoko” in select U.S. cinemas on April 11, 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: ‘Memoir of a Snail,’ starring the voices of Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana, Dominique Pinon, Tony Armstrong, Nick Cave and Jacki Weaver

January 3, 2025

by Carla Hay

Grace Pudel (voiced by Sarah Snook) in “Memoir of a Snail” (Image courtesy of IFC Films)

“Memoir of a Snail”

Directed by Adam Elliot

Culture Representation: Taking place in Australia, from the 1970s to the 1990s, the animated film “Memoir of a Snail” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An eccentric girl, who collects snails, become separated from her twin brother after their widower father dies, and the twins experience various difficulties during their childhood and adult years.

Culture Audience: “Memoir of a Snail” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s voice actors and unconventional animation that is geared more to adults than children.

Young Grace Pudel (voiced by Charlotte Belsey), Percy Pudel (voiced by Dominique Pinon) and Young Gilbert Pudel (voiced by Mason Litsos) in “Memoir of a Snail” (Image courtesy of IFC Films)

Quirky and inventive, “Memoir of a Snail” is like no other animated film. The movie is not as lighthearted and family-friendly as it first appears to be, but there are moments of hope in this occasionally rambling story of a misfit who collects snails. This is a movie that is best enjoyed by people who consider themselves to be open-minded and can enjoy animation that doesn’t have a formulaic plot.

Written and directed by Adam Elliot, “Memoir of a Snail” had its world premiere at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and its U.S. premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. The movie, which takes place in Australia from the 1970s to the 1990s, has stop-motion animation that looks a lot like it was influenced by animated films by director Tim Burton. However, “Memoir of a Snail” is more offbeat than most of Burton’s films.

“Memoir of a Snail” begins in the 1970s in Melbourne, where twin siblings Grace Pudel (voiced by Charlotte Belsey) and Gilbert Pudel (voiced by Mason Litsos) are being raised by their widower father Percy Pudel (voiced by Dominique Pinon), a native of France who used to be a juggler in Paris. Grace is the narrator of this movie, which as a flashback when Grace is an adult. Sarah Snook voices the role of adult Grace.

Annie Pudel, the mother of Gilbert and Grace, died during childbirth in 1972, when she was 22 years old. Annie, who was originally from Australia, met Percy when she was visiting in Paris and he was a street busker. After Percy and Annie fell in love, Percy moved to Australia to be with Annie.

As a widower, Percy is addicted to alcohol and uses a wheelchair because he has paraplegia. “Knitting and jelly beans were his other addictions,” Grace says in the narration. From an early age, Grace developed a fascination with squirrels and became somewhat obsessed with collecting snails and snail memorabilia.

Grace and Gilbert adore each other and are very close. n hindsight narration, Grace describes Gilbert as this way when they were growing up together: “He was like Holden Caulfield, James Dean and Charlie Brown rolled all into one.” Gilbert was a pessimistic worrier who was often bullied at school, but he wasn’t afraid to fight back.

Grace also says that Gilbert loved animals so much, he became a vegetarian. She adds, “But the thing that made Gilbert really unique was his love of fire. He’d spend hours playing with fire.” Gilbert’s dream was to become a street performer in Paris, just like his father Percy was. “Despite our hardships, there was plenty of joy,” Grace says of her childhood being raised by Percy.

However, as shown in the flashback scenes, that joy came to crashing halt when Percy dies. Grace and Gilbert are separated in the foster care system and are sent to live on opposite sides of Australia. Grace is placed with a married couple who are accountants in urban Canberra (on the east coast), while Gilbert is placed with a married couple who live on a rural farm near Perth (on the west coast). The twins don’t see each other for several years, but they keep in touch by writing letters to each other.

Grace and Gilbert also grow up in opposite foster homes, when it come to the people who are raising them. Grace’s foster parents are Ian (voiced by Paul Capsis) and Narelle (also voiced by Capsis), who are friendly but often neglectful because they are swingers who are frequently absent from their home. By contrast, Gilbert’s foster parents Owen (voiced by Bernie Clifford) and Ruth (voiced by Magda Szubanski) are religious conservatives who are very abusive to Gilbert.

Not much more can be described about “Memoir of a Snail” without giving away too much of the plot. However, it’s enough to say that adult Grace and adult Gilbert (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) have ups and downs in their lives. As an adult, Grace becomes addicted to “buying, hoarding and stealing.”

Grace also befriends an eccentric older woman named Pinky (voiced by Jacki Weaver), who is legally blind and becomes a maternal figure to Grace. Grace also has two love interests: one named Ken (voiced by Tony Armstrong) and one named Bill Clarke (voiced by Nick Cave), with both romances being very different from each other. Gilbert also has a romance that takes a heartbreaking turn. A magistrate named James (voiced by Eric Bana) as a small but pivotal role in the film.

“Memoir of a Snail” is not going to be to everyone’s liking. There’s a lot of dry and dark comedy in the movie that is handled quite capably by the voice actors, who give memorable performances. The parts of the story that are depressing might catch some viewers off guard and be a turnoff for the rest of the movie. The movie’s visuals are striking, and the story clips along at a good pace, although some of the narrative tends to wander. Viewers with patience will be rewarded with an ending that makes “Memoir of a Snail” a uniquely poignant movie experience.

IFC Films released “Memoir of a Snail” in select U.S. cinemas on October 25, 2024. The movie was released on digital and VOD on November 26, 2024. AMC+ will premiere the movie on January 17, 2025.

Review: ‘Better Man’ (2024), starring Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman and Kate Mulvaney

December 23, 2024

by Carla Hay

Jonno Davies in “Better Man” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Better Man” (2024)

Directed by Michael Gracey

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1982 to 2019, in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other parts of the world, the musical film “Better Man” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: British pop singer Robbie Williams (portrayed as a chimpanzee in “Better Man”) finds fame as a member of Take That and even greater success as a solo artist, but he falls into traps of celebrity status, such as ego problems and addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Culture Audience: “Better Man” will appeal primarily to fans of Robbie Williams and musical movies that are unconventional.

Asmara Feik and Steve Pemberton in “Better Man” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Some viewers might never get accustomed to seeing singer Robbie Williams as a chimpanzee in the musical biopic “Better Man.” It’s a unique choice in an otherwise conventional but entertaining film with uneven pacing. The musical numbers are elaborate highlights of the film, while the dramatic parts—although competently acted—are hit-and-miss scenes that sometimes drag in this 134-minute movie.

Directed by Michael Gracey, “Better Man” was written by Gracey, Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole. “Better Man” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Why is Williams (who was born in 1974) depicted as an ape in this movie? Gracey has said in interviews that he got the idea from several interviews he did where Williams compared himself to a monkey who was trained to perform.

The real Williams provides voiceover narration, while actors Jonno Davies (as the teenage and adult Robbie) and Asmara Feik (as the child Robbie) do the physical body acting as the chimpanzee, thanks to computer-generated imagery. The other characters in “Better Man” are humans who treat the Robbie Williams character as human and don’t comment that he looks like a chimpanzee. It’s the movie’s way of showing that looking like a chimpanzee is how the Robbie character perceives himself, not how other people see him.

“Better Man” is the second authorized biographical project about Williams in two years. Williams was the subject of the 2023 Netflix limited documentary series “Robbie Williams,” where he looked back on video footage of his life as a celebrity and added his personal comments. Even though “Better Man” is a scripted movie with fantasy elements, “Better Man” actually provides more insight into who Williams is than his “Robbie Williams” documentary. For the purposes of this review, the real people will be referred to by their last names, while the movie characters will be referred to by their first names.

“Better Man,” which is told in chronological order from 1982 to 2019, begins by depicting Robbie as an 8-year-old child in his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, England. Back then, he was known as Rob or Robert. As he says in hindsight narration, from an early age, he had a burning desire to be an entertainer. He says he has an unabashed love of musicals. And he spends a lot of time at home practicing his singing and showman moves.

As an example of Robbie’s sarcastic humor, he says in a voiceover: “I didn’t have much, but at least I had the respect and admiration of my peers. They just didn’t know it yet.” And then the movie shows a scene of young Robbie being bullied by fellow students in a schoolyard.

Robbie’s father Peter (played by Steve Pemberton) is also a wannabe entertainer, but he doesn’t have the talent that Robbie has. Peter is mostly a low-level emcee at a small pub that he owns called the Red Lion, which has talent contests on a regular basis. Peter passed on to Robbie his admiration of Rat Pack entertainers Frank Sinatra (Peter’s favorite), Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Peter is also very self-absorbed. When he wins £5 in a talent contest, the victory goes to his head. He decides to go on the road to try his luck as an entertainer in other citiies. Peter doesn’t come back and abandons his family.

This abandonment causes lifelong “daddy issues” for Robbie. He hides a lot of his emotional pain with a cocky bravado and cheeky jokes. Throughout the movie, there are scenes of Robbie seeing menacing versions of himself (especially while he’s performing), where these versions of himself taunt him and cruelly insult him. It’s an obvious manifestation of his self-loathing.

Robbie’s mother Janet (played by Kate Mulvany) and Robbie’s grandmother Betty (played by Alison Steadman) do the best they can to raise rebellious Robbie. Betty is more supportive than Janet when it comes to Robbie’s showbiz dreams. Janet wants Robbie to graduate from high school and get a regular job, like most of his peers.

Robbie explains in a voiceover: “Where I grew up, you were meant to act small. But the thing is, I’m cabaret. I came out of the womb with jazz hands.” At 9 years old, he got his first taste of performing in front of audiences by being in school plays.

When Robbie is in high school, a school counseler discourages Robbie’s goal to be a famous entertainer, by telling Robbie that Robbie should “keep your feet on the ground” and “this is not for you.” It’s around this time in 1990, when 16-year-old Robbie hears on the radio that there are auditions for a new boy band that eventually will be known as Take That.

Robbie shows up to the audition with a lot of confidence. But that confidence is soon deflated when he sings an old-fashioned show tune and doesn’t get the positive reaction that he expected. Take That’s manager Nigel Martin Smith (played by Damon Herriman), the only “judge” in this audition, tells Robbie it’s the wrong song choice because Take That is a pop group. Robbie feels he’s bombed in this audition, but his saucy spirit comes through when he winks at Nigel before leaving the audition room because he thinks at least this flirtatious gesture will make Nigel remember him.

And just like something in a movie, Robbie gets a call that he’s been chosen for the group. It’s just in time, because Robbie had dropped out of high school, and he hadn’t told his mother yet. Robbie joins Take That, with Nigel as their control-freak manager. (The movie shows it was Nigel’s idea to have Robbie start calling himself Robbie.)

The other members of Take That are Gary Barlow (played by Jake Simmance), Howard Donald (played by Liam Head), Jason Orange (played by Chase Vollenweider) and Mark Owen (played by Jesse Hyde), who look nothing like the real people they’re portraying in this movie. (But then again, the Robbie as a chimpanzee doesn’t look like the real person either.) Gary and Robbie are the only Take That members in “Better Man” who are given distinct personalities.

The movie depicts the real-life jealousy/rivalry that Williams had with Barlow, who was Take That’s main songwriter and therefore made more money than the other members of Take That. A scene later in the movie shows at the height of Take That’s fame in the mid-1990s, Robbie was resentful that Gary could afford to buy a mansion, while Robbie couldn’t afford his own place and was still living his mother and grandmother. As Robbie explains in the movie, Robbie felt that his own songwriting talent was unfairly stifled or dismissed in Take That because Nigel had decided that Gary would be the group’s chief songwriter and wouldn’t budge on this decision. As the youngest member of Take That, Robbie had the image of being the group’s “rebellious bad boy.”

Take That was initially marketed to gay men. But when Nigel saw that the group would be more commercially successful as teen idols marketed mostly to females, he switched to that marketing tactic, and Take That became a mainstream success. Williams has had high-profile romances with women, but he’s always been coy abut his sexuality and doesn’t confirm or deny stories that he’s had male sex partners. In “Better Man,” Robbie says he feels completely comfortable in gay nightclubs because he can be himself without judgment. He also says in the movie that the only thing that bothers him about stories that he had gay sex is if the stories say he was had bad sexual skills.

Take That and Williams didn’t have the success in the United States that they did in Europe, so American audiences might be underwhelmed or disinterested in the story told in “Better Man.” (“Back for Good” was the only Take That song that was a hit in the U.S.) If you’ve ever seen any episode of “Behind the Music,” then you know what to expect for the rest of “Better Man”: Robbie achieves international fame and fortune but also experiences low points in his personal life, such as troubled romances and his various addictions.

When Robbie was asked to leave Take That in 1995 because his addictions made him unreliable, he faced an uncertain future. But he went on to have a solo career that was even more successful than what he achieved with Take That. His first solo album—1997’s “Life Thru a Lens”—had lackluster sales until the release of the album’s ballad single “Angels,” which remains the biggest hit song of Williams’ career. His other solo hits include “Let Me Entertain You,” “Millennium,” “Rock DJ” and “She’s the One.”

“Better Man” is told in chronological order, but the movie isn’t as precious with the timeline for the musical numbers. One of the standout musical sequences—involving acrobatic stunts and superb choreography—shows Take That celebrating the group’s success, but the song playing during this sequence is Williams’ solo song “Rock DJ.” “Better Man” effectively shows a poignant musical moment when “Angels” is performed in the movie. And the recreation of his first 2003 Knebworth concert (where he was made his entrance by hanging upside down on stage) is absolutely stellar.

“Better Man” depicts how Robbie’s solo career allowed him to showcase his talent as a songwriter whose specialty is writing lyrics and melodies. His partnership with musician/producer Guy Chambers (played by Tom Budge), who co-wrote and produced Robbie’s biggest solo hits in the 1990s and early 2000s, is depicted as a “bromance.” However, “Better Man” (which ends in 2019) doesn’t mention that in real life, Chambers and Williams ended their musical partnership in 2002.

Robbie’s love life is also given selective treatment in “Better Man.” Williams’ real-life relationship with American actress/TV host Ayda Field (whom he married in 2010) is noticeably absent from the movie. Robbie’s main romance depicted in “Better Man” is his volatile 1997 to 1999 relationship with his former fiancée Nicole Appleton (played by Raechelle Banno) from the British female singing group All Saints. Robbie and Nicole’s romance is depicted as a match made in pop music heaven, until the relationship was derailed by Robbie’s infidelities and the couple’s busy work schedules.

“Better Man” also shows that Robbie was competitive with Nicole when it came to having hits on the charts. At a time when Robbie’s solo career was stagnant, All Saints had their first No. 1 song (1997’s “Never Ever”) in the United Kingdom. And this type of success bothered Robbie. The movie implies that Nicole had an abortion due to pressure from All Saints’ management. Nicole’s abortion and Robbie’s despair over this terminated pregnancy are candidly shown as the final blow to their relationship. This abortion is never mentioned in the “Robbie Williams” documentary.

Liam Gallagher (played by Leo Harvey-Elledge) and Noel Gallagher (played by Chris Gun)— the feuding brothers of British rock band Oasis—are depicted in “Better Man” as people whom Robbie both admired and envied at a time when Oasis was riding high on the charts in the mid-to-late 1990s. Robbie and Liam became party buddies after Robbie left Take That. In real life (and not depicted in “Better Man”), Liam Gallagher and Appleton began dating in 2000, had a son together in 2001, and were married from 2008 to 2014. Maybe that’s why Robbie says of Nicole in a voiceover: “She has terrible taste in men.”

The “Robbie Williams” documentary doesn’t delve into the complicated feelings that Robbie has for his father Peter. By contrast, “Better Man” puts Robbie’s love/hate relationship with his father at the forefront and as one of the reasons why Robbie has longtime self-esteem problems. Robbie’s battles with depression are also depicted in the movie. It gives “Better Man” a deeper resonance than the usual “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” storytelling which is expected in a movie about Williams’ life. However, “Better Man” breezes through Robbie’s recovery from addiction in a way that’s a little too superficial.

“Better Man” is solidly enjoyable as a musical. And director Gracey has made a career out of doing musical biopics: His previous feature film as a director is 2017’s “The Greatest Showman” (about circus mogul P.T. Barnum), and he was an executive producer of 2019’s “Rocketman” (about singer/songwriter Elton John), which were both hits. “Better Man” should be commended for doing something never seen before in a musical biopic (depicting the human star of the story as a chimpanzee), but the movie still can’t shake the reality that this monkey persona is a gimmick. “Better Man” is able to transcend this gimmick by offering a story with heart underneath the flashy musical numbers and proficient visual effects.

Paramount Pictures will release “Better Man” in select U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 10, 2025. The movie wll be released on digital and VOD on February 11, 2025, and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray and May 13, 2025.

Review: ‘September 5,’ starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch

December 13, 2024

by Carla Hay

Cast members in “September 5.” Peter Sarsgaard (facing group) and pictured from left to right in front row: Corey Johnson, Zinedine Soualem, John Magaro and Ben Chaplin. Pictured from left to right in back row: Marcus Rutherford, Georgina Rich and Leonie Benesch. (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“September 5”

Directed by Tim Fehlbaum

Some language in German with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Munich, Germany on September 5, 1972, the dramatic film “September 5” (based on real events) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Middle Eastern people and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: ABC Sports staffers and their associates grapple with how to cover a live news event when Palestinian terrorists take Israeli hostages during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Culture Audience: “September 5” will appeal primarily to people interested in historical dramas that have good acting and well-directed suspense.

John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Peter Sarsgaard in “September 5” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“September 5” is a dramatic recreation of an ABC TV control room during the tragic massacre of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. This suspenseful and well-acted movie exposes the ethical dilemmas in televising live kidnappings and murders. Although the outcome of this tragedy is well-known to many viewers, seeing this recreation can still have a tremendous impact.

Directed by Tim Fehlbaum (who co-wrote the “September 5” screenplay with Moritz Binder and Alex David), “September 5” had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival and its U.S. premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. There have been other movies about the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics—such as director Steven Spielberg’s 2005 drama “Munich”—but “September 5” is the first to take a comprehensive look at this tragedy from the perspectives of the mostly American TV employees who decided to do a live telecast of the hostage-taking event, which was watched by more than 900 million people worldwide.

“September 5,” as the title indicates, takes place in Munich on September 5, 1972, which was the day of this tragedy. The movie begins by showing a seemingly mundane explanation (with voiceover narraton) of technicalities involved in televising the Olympics live on this particular date. ABC Sports is sharing the telecast that day with CBS Sports. The time slots allotted to each network will later become a source of contention when the hostage taking begins and each network competes with the other over who will have the rights to broadcast this live event.

“September 5” doesn’t overstuff the story with too many characters. Behind the scenes, the four main characters who are shown making the most pivotal decisions are:

  • Roone Arledge (played by Peter Sarsgaard), the shrewd and ambitious president of ABC Sports.
  • Martin Bader (played by Ben Chaplin), the logical-minded chief of operations for ABC Sports.
  • Geoffrey “Geoff” Mason (played by John Magaro), a resourceful producer for ABC Sports,
  • Marianne Gebhardt (played by Leonie Benesch), a German TV employee hired by ABC Sports to be a translator.

The day begins ordinarily enough, but there’s a little bit of tension between Martin and Marianne when they first meet each other. Martin (who is Jewish) is a little uneasy about being in Germany, the country where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rose to power. The Holocaust is very much on his mind when Martin aks Marianne if her parents are still alive.

When she says yes, he replies sarcastically, “Let me guess. They didn’t know.” Marianne looks taken aback and somewhat offended that Martin assumes her parents were among the Germans who pretended not to know about the Holocaust while the Holocaust was happening. She calmly responds and says about her parents: “I’m not them.”

“September 5” doesn’t waste time with idle chit chat and personal backstories of each of the main characters. The hostage-taking happens within the first 15 minutes of this 95-minute movie. Everyone in the control room has to react swiftly to this crisis: 10 people from the Israeli Olympic team (five athletes and five coaches/officials) were captured after terrorists broke into the Olympic Village and held the victims hostage in an Olympic Village apartment.

The first thing that the media had to find out and accurately report was who was behind this kidnapping. The answer: a militant Palestinian group called Black September. Roone hesitates to use the word “terrorists” to describe these captors on TV, until Marianne tells Roone that the local German media are using the word “terrorists” to describe the captors. Also giving an international perspective to ABC Sports team is French-born TV executive Jacques Lesgardes (played by Zinedine Soualem), who is ABC Sports director of broadcast operations and engineering in Europe

Roone is adamant in telling his team that audiences will care more about the story if they know personal things about the kidnapping victims. And so, there’s a scramble to find any personal stories about any of the victims. Because it’s a TV broadcast, the kidnapped person who had the most TV footage avalable at the time gets a lion’s share of the coverage.

As seen in “September 5,” ABC Sports team gives most of the “personal story” focus to kidnapping victim David Berger (played by Rony Herman), an American who moved to Israel to pursue is dream of becoming an Olympic wrestler after he wasn’t selected for Team USA for Olympic wrestling. It just so happened that ABC had interviewed David in previously unaired footage, so that footage is shown during the crisis. David is also the only American-born hostage, so Roone believes that American viewers will feel more invested in this story if they knew an American is among those taken hostage.

As the hostage crisis stretches over several hours, ABC and CBS clash over who would have the official telecast when ABC’s time slot ended. The movie shows how ABC was still able to get “credit” for the telecast, even when the footage was coming from CBS’s feed: An ABC logo sticker was put on the side of the main camera-feed screen, so that ABC viewers would still think that the live footage was coming ABC’s control room, when the footage was really coming from CBS.

In addition to ABC’s conflicts with CBS, there were conflicts within ABC ranks. Roone resisted attempts from ABC News to take over the reporting from ABC Sports. Even though ABC Sports was not experienced in “hard news” journalism, Roone argued that ABC Sports was better-equipped to be in control of ABC’s telecast of this crisis because the ABC Sports team had more experience covering live events, and ABC Sports staffers were already in Munich, compared to the ABC News staffers who were in the United States. Roone huffs to his ABC Sports team: “This is our story, and we’re keeping it!”

ABC News reporter Peter Jennings (played by Benjamin Walker) is one of the ABC News people who’s portrayed as one of the “snobs” who questioned the capabilities of the ABC Sports people to handle this live telecast. “September 5” includes some of the actual news footage from ABC or realistic recreations of ABC News anchor Jim McKay doing live coverage of the crisis from his anchor desk in Munich. There is also actual archival footage in other parts of “September 5.”

On a less obvious but still noticeable level, “September 5” also shows yet another battle during this crisis: the battle of the sexes. In this very male-dominated environment, Marianne is often treated dismissively by some of the men, even though she is a valuable member of the team. At one point, she’s asked to get coffee, as if she’s a low-level production assistant. However, Marianne often shows she’s much more astute than many of the men who have more important titles than she does.

Two men on the team express condescending surprise that a woman was chosen to be a negotiator for this crisis. They scoff at the sight (from a TV news camera stationed outside) of the negotiator and say she looks unprofessional because she has asked the kidnappers for a light for her cigarette. Marianne comments: “No, she’s gaining their trust.” Marianne later points out that choosing a woman to negotiate is actually a great idea because the hostage takers might underestimate her because she’s a woman.

“September 5” includes some of the clever ways that the ABC Sports team was able to get exclusive footage during this crisis. One idea that worked was having camera operator Gary Slaughter (played by Daniel Adeosun) sneak into Olympic Village by posing as an athlete and placing a hidden camera in a strategic area close to where the hostages were being held. Creating a fake ID for Gary was also part of this impromptu plan.

But having a camera so close to the hostage area created a new set of issues, such as: What if any hostages were killed? How much (if any) of this worst possible outcome should be shown on live TV? These questions and other dilemmas weigh heavily on the people in the control room who know that whatever decisions they make will have long-term repercussions.

The tension in “September 5” doesn’t let up, thanks to the movie’s tight pacing. An unrealistic movie would have had the ABC people constantly shouting in a panic as the violence in this hostage crisis escalated. Instead, “September 5” more accurately shows that people in the control room were often stunned and shocked into silence. The movie also depicts that it’s never far from the broadcasters’ minds that what they were showing on TV would be a major trauma to unknown numbers of audience members.

The talented cast members of “September 5” do a very good job of portraying people who are seeing real-life horror unfold before their eyes, but they have to maintain enough professional composure to do their jobs as journalists and objectively cover this news event without interfering in this event. Sarsgaard, Magaro, Chaplin and Benesch all have moments that show how all four of their characters were essential as moving parts to this team. Although there is no happy ending to this story, “September 5” serves as a meaningful reminder of the importance of empathetic humanity in journalism when reporting things that are very inhumane.

Paramount Pictures released “September 5” in select U.S. cinemas on December 13, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 17, 2025.

Review ‘The End’ (2024), starring Tilda Swinton, George Mackay, Moses Ingram, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James and Michael Shannon

December 6, 2024

by Carla Hay

Tim McInnerny, Michael Shannon, George Mackay, Tilda Swinton, Bronagh Gallagher and Lennie James in “The End” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“The End” (2024)

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of the United States, the musical film “The End” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with two black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After an apocalypse, a wealthy family of three are sequestered in a lavish bunker with three of their close associates, when they have their lives altered by an apocalypse survivor, who unexpectedly lives with them.

Culture Audience: “The End” will appeal primarily to fans of the movie’s headliners and musicals that don’t have much to say.

Moses Ingram in “The End” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

Viewers of the long-winded and boring musical “The End” will keep wondering when it’s going to reach the end. The acting is fine, and some of the singing is good, but the movie commits the worst sin for a musical: The songs and story are very forgettable. And that’s a sin that’s very hard to forgive for a movie whose total running time is 148 minutes.

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (who co-wrote “The End” screenplay with Rasmus Heisterberg), “The End” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The story takes place in an unnamed part of the U.S., after an apocalypse has happened several years prior. (“The End” was actually filmed in Iceland, Italy, and Germany, but the main characters in the movie have American accents.) The entire story is set at a bunker that looks like a ice-covered mine shaft on the outside but looks like mansion on the inside. All of the characters in the movie live in this bunker.

In “The End,” the real names of the characters are not revealed. The characters are listed in the movie’s end credits according to whatever identity they have in the movie. Mother (played by Tilda Swinton) is icy and domineering. Father (played by Michael Shannon), who is Mother’s husband, is more laid-back and easygoing. Son (played by George Mackay) is a young adult who is emotionally immature and very sheltered. (For example, he has a childlike fascination with playing with toy train sets.) These three family members are wealthy and own the bunker where they live.

Also living in the bunker are three people who are there because the family allowed them to be there when the parents decided which people could live in the bunker with the family. All of these non-family members have an extra purpose to be in service to the family in some way, which causes an imbalance of power. As more details about Mother and Father are revealed, it’s easy to see why these parents aren’t as charitable as they first seem to be.

Friend (played by Bronagh Gallagher), a middle-aged family friend of the parents, is the main cook for this household. Friend is having a semi-secret affair with Son at the beginning of the movie. She has known Son since he was a kid. But now that he’s an adult, she obviously sees him in a different way. It’s mentioned that Friend had an adult son named Tom, who died (the reason why he died is later revealed), and Friend seems to feel very guilty about this death.

Doctor (played by Lennie James) was having some kind of love affair with Friend until she took up with Son. This previous romance is never seen in the movie, but Doctor makes it known to Friend and Son that he’s upset and jealous over their sexual relationship. However, because Doctor feels indebted to Son’s parents for saving his life, he doesn’t let this jealousy interfere with his dedication to the family.

Butler (played by Tim McInnerny) is the most subservient of the non-family members. He can be relied on to do whatever is asked of him, with no questions asked. There is no obvious information about Butler’s personal life, although it’s hinted that he is gay. He’s the only character in the movie who doesn’t have a love interest.

Under the strict direction of Mother, the people in this bunker do fire drills on a regular basis. Why? Don’t expect an answer. Son is a talented painter whose artwork seems inspired by Claude Monet, the French painter credited with being a pioneer of impressionism. Mother is very critical and nitpcky about his paintings, which affects Son’s self-esteem.

The apocalypse has supposedly caused massive flooding above ground and left Earth with freezing temperatures, which is why it’s icy all year round. The movie is vague about how the bunker occupants still have electricity and other resources. It’s implied that they grow their own food and raise the small animals (such as seafood) that they eat inside the bunker.

The people inside the bunker, especially the parents, seem unconcerned about finding out if there are any other survivors. But one day, a stranger is discovered unconscious outside the bunker. In the end credits, her name is Girl (played by Moses Ingram), but she’s actually a young woman. When she is able to regain consciousnesses, Girl says that she and her family became trapped underneath ice in a marine channel, but she was able to survive by digging her way out from underneath the ice.

The bunker parents made a pact not to let other survivors live with them, but they make an exception for Girl. It takes some time for Girl to adjust to her new surroundings. Her presence in the household changes the dynamics of certain relationships. And the most predictable and cliché thing happens between Girl and Son.

The singing in “The End” sounds like people singing dialogue, not well-crafted songs that give a new vibrancy to the story. Mackay and Ingram are the best singers, while the other cast members have adequate singing skills. There are no elaborate dance numbers. The movie’s technical aspects (cinematography, production design and costume design) are adequate, but can’t do much to elevate the lackluster story.

“The End” had great potential to be an innovative and original musical. However, the story concept goes limp within the first 30 minutes of the movie and never recovers. Many crucial questions are left unanswered by the end of the movie because there are hints that a lot of footage was edited out of this film that is already too long. One of the best ways to know if a musical is good is if the songs (and the way the songs are presented) are crucial in telling the story. Unfortunately for “The End,” this is a bland and disappointing movie, even it if hadn’t been a musical.

Neon released “The End” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024.

Review: ‘The Piano Lesson’ (2024), starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Skylar Aleece Smith, Danielle Deadwyler and Corey Hawkins

December 6, 2024

by Carla Hay

John David Washington and Skylar Aleece Smith in “The Piano Lesson” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

“The Piano Lesson” (2024)

Directed by Malcolm Washington

Culture Representation: Taking place in Mississippi and in Pittsburgh (mostly in 1936, with some flashbacks to 1911 and the 1800s), the dramatic film “The Piano Lesson” (based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name) features a predominantly African American cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A brother and a sister have a family feud because the brother wants to sell the family’s antique piano, but the sister does not want to sell the piano, and her house appears to be haunted because of the piano.

Culture Audience: “The Piano Lesson” will appeal primarily to fans of August Wilson, the movie’s headliners, and dramas about family tensions and generational legacies.

Michael Potts, Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Ray Fisher “The Piano Lesson” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

The 2024 version of “The Piano Lesson” gives a well-acted and dynamic cinematic retelling of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. This solidly made drama effectively conveys the story’s themes of how family legacies can haunt or inspire people. It’s the type of movie that enriches the stage version of the play with very good artistic choices in cinematography and production design. “The Piano Lesson” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

“The Piano Lesson” is the feature-film directorial debut of Malcolm Washington, the youngest son of Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington. Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams co-wrote the adapted screenplay for “The Piano Lesson,” which is based on August Wilson’s 1990 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. Denzel Washington is one of the movie’s producers. John David Washington (Denzel’s eldest child) is the main star of the movie. Katia Washington (Denzel’s second-eldest child) is one of the movie’s executive producers. In a movie about a family, the production of “The Piano Lesson” was obviously a family affair too.

This isn’t the first movie version of “The Piano Lesson.” There was a 1995 TV-movie of “The Piano Lesson” (starring Charles S. Dutton and Alfre Woodard) that was part of CBS’s Hallmark Hall of Fame and was nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards. Netflix’s 2024 version of “The Piano Lesson” movie clearly has a larger budget that went into making the world in the story feel more expansive with several locations.

The 2024 version of “The Piano Lesson” begins on July 4, 1911, in an unnamed city in Mississippi. It’s during a time in U.S. history when slavery was outlawed but Jim Crow racial segregation laws still existed. (The U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 made these segregation laws illegal in the United States.) The effects of racism against black people in America are seen and heard throughout the movie.

In this opening scene of “The Piano Lesson,” a group of white people in the community are gathered to watch fireworks. Meanwhile, a 31-year-old man named Boy Charles (played by Stephan James) has decided that he’s going to take a family heirloom that he thinks is rightfully his: a piano, which has images of many of his ancestors that are carved on the piano. The piano is in the possession of the wealthy Sutter family, a white clan who enslaved Boy Charles’ ancestors. Boy Charles works for the Sutter family as a farmhand and handyman.

The members of the Sutter family are not at home because they are attending a Fourth of July celebration. Boy Charles has brought his son Boy Willie (played by Isaiah Gunn), who’s about 10 years old, to be the lookout for this reclaiming of the piano. Boy Charles has two accomplices—his brother Doaker Charles and their friend Wining Boy (played by Tony Fox)—who are both with Boy Willie in the truck that transports the piano away.

Boy Charles decides to stay behind near the house. It turns out to be a fatal mistake because he dies that night. The details of Boy Charles’ death are revealed later in the movie. However, it’s easy to predict what happened to Boy Charles as soon as horse-riding men with torches race through a field to look for Boy Charles, who is an obvious suspect for this theft.

“The Piano Lesson” then fast-forwards 25 years later to 1936. Boy Willie (played by John David Washington) is still living in Mississippi and is a farm worker. Boy Willie’s mother has been deceased for an unnamed number of years. He notices that the Sutter family has put up for sale the farm land where Boy Willie’s ancestors used to work. Boy Willie has decided that he wants to buy this farm. The Sutter family’s patriarch James Sutter (played by Jay Peterson) has recently died by falling down a well.

Boy Willie thinks the only way he can get the money to buy this farm land is to sell the family’s antique piano. The piano is currently thousands of miles away in the Pittsburgh home of his sister Berniece (played by Danielle Deadwyler), who has been estranged from Boy Willie for a number of years. Berniece, who is a single mother, lives in the house with her 11-year-old daughter Maretha (played by Skylar Aleece Smith) and Doaker (played by Samuel L. Jackson), who tries to keep the peace when Boy Willie and Berniece quarrel. (Jackson played the role of Doaker in the 2022 Broadway revival of “The Piano Lesson.”)

Boy Willie travels to Pittsburgh with his close friend Lymon Jackson (played by Ray Fisher) so that they can sell watermelons and hopefully take back the piano. Boy Willie (who is talkative and cocky) and Lymon (who is friendly and a bit slow-witted) arrive at Berniece’s home at around 5 a.m. without telling any of the people in house in advance that they would be visiting. Not surprisingly, Berniece isn’t happy about this unannounced arrival. (Fisher played the role of Lymon in the Broadway revival of “The Piano Lesson.”)

At first, Boy Willie is optimistic and overconfident that he can convince Berniece to sell the piano when he tells her what he is going to do with the money from selling the piano. However, Boy Willie soon finds out that Berniece is just as stubborn and strong-willed as he is because she refuses to sell the piano. Berniece was very attached to her mother, who treasured the piano, which is why Berniece believes that selling the piano would disrespect her mother the family’s legacy. Wining Boy (played by Michael Potts) has some survivor’s guilt that he and Doaker got away with taking the piano, while Boy Charles lost his life over it.

At one point in the movie, Doaker tells the piano’s origin story of how it became connected to the Charles family: James Sutter’s grandfather Robert Sutter (played by David Atkinson, in flashbacks), nicknamed Old Man Sutter, was the “slave master” of the Sutter family who got the piano by trading some of his enslaved people for the piano. Those enslaved people were ancestors of Boy Willie, Berniece, and Doaker. Boy Charles’ grandfather Willie Boy (played by Malik J. Ali) was a carpenter who was hired to carve the images of these family members in the piano because Robert’s wife Ophelia missed seeing the enslaved people who left because of the trade.

Adding to the family tensions, superstitious Berniece thinks that Boy Willie has brought some bad omens with him when she hears that Boy Willie is a person of interest in the death of a Mississippi man named Crawley (played by Matrell Smith), who also died from falling down a well, just like James Sutter. Were these deaths accidents or murders? It’s a mystery that doesn’t get necessarily solved by the end of the story. Soon after Boy Willie and Lymon arrive at the house, Berniece is convinced that the ghost of Old Man Sutter is haunting the house because of the piano. She claims to have seen this ghost.

“The Piano Lesson” has a subplot about Berniece being courted by an ambitious preacher named Avery (played by Corey Hawkins), who tells her that he loves her but he also admits he’s more likely to get his own church if he’s a married man. Avery barely interacts with Maretha, which is an indication that Avery probably doesn’t love Berniece as much as he says he does because he doesn’t seem too interested in being a caring parental figure to her child. Avery appeals to Berniece’s religiousness, but she’s not entirely convinced it would be right for her to marry Avery. Meanwhile, Lymon shows a romantic interest n Berniece too.

“The Piano Lesson” might frustrate some viewers who are expecting more ghostly action in the story, which tends to get repetitive in showing arguments between Boy Willie and Berniece. Erykah Badu has a memorable cameo as a singer named Lucille, who performs at a nightclub/bar where the men in the story like to carouse. However, the nightclub scenes could have been taken out of the movie and would not have any effect on the story’s outcome.

What makes this version of “The Piano Lesson” noteworthy are the performances from the talented ensemble cast, although the character of Maretha could have been developed better. John David Washington and Deadwyler have sheer magnetism in their scenes as feuding siblings, who both have convincing motivations for what they want to do with the piano. Jackson and Fisher also have notable scenes where their characters have various effects on the tumultuous relationship between Berniece and Boy Willie. The movie’s screenplay is a little jumbled in telling the story in a non-chronological timeline, but it shouldn’t be too confusing if viewers are paying full attention.

“The Piano Lesson” is not about learning how to play this musical instrument. It’s about a life lesson of learning how much of the past can or cannot affect the future. “The Piano Lesson” excels when showing that “family legacy” can mean different things within a family. For Berniece, her definition about famly legacy is about honoring the past. For Boy Willie, his definition of family legacy is about securing a better future. What “The Piano Lesson” wants to teach (and do so very well) is to not take loved ones for granted in the present.

Netflix released “The Piano Lesson” in select U.S. cinemas on November 8, 2024. The movie premiered on Netflix on November 22, 2024.

Review: ‘Zurawski v Texas,’ starring Amanda Zurawski, Samantha Casiano, Austin Dennard and Molly Duane

November 5, 2024

by Carla Hay

Amanda Zurawski in “Zurawski v Texas” (Photo courtesy of HiddenLight Productions, Story Force Entertainment and Out of Nowhere)

“Zurawski v Texas”

Directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault

Culture Representation: Taking place in Texas and in Indiana in 2023, the documentary film “Zurawski v Texas” features a predominantly white group of people (and some Latin people) who are connected in some way in the lawsuit Zurawski v. Texas about abortion and reproductive rights in the state of Texas.

Culture Clash: The lawsuit’s plaintiffs, including lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski, want to repeal Texas’ strict abortion laws to include the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy that puts the mother’s life in danger or where the pregnancy is ending through a miscarriage.

Culture Audience: “Zurawski v Texas” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries about abortion that examine personal stories about abortion as it pertains to health care and reproductive rights.

Luis Villasana, Samantha Casiano and Molly Duane in “Zurawski v Texas” (Photo courtesy of HiddenLight Productions, Story Force Entertainment and Out of Nowhere)

Although the candid documentary “Zurawski v Texas” is focused on three plaintiffs and their attorney in their battle for reproductive rights in Texas, the movie sounds the alarm about how restricting abortion is a crisis-level health care issue in the U.S. The movie also serves as a predictor of what could happen if more states pass abortion laws that are similar to the abortion laws in Texas. The plaintiffs (who are all women from Texas) want their lawsuit to be a warning of how reproductive rights that are at risk can be harmful to health care and family planning.

Directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, “Zurawski v Texas” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. The documentary revolves around one particular case, but the tone of the movie is that this case has reverberations and implications for untold numbers of people who are affected by abortion in the United States. The anti-abortion laws in Texas became stricter after 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Curt overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe vs. Wade that guaranteed federal protections for the right to choose to have an abortion.

There were several plaintiffs in the 2023 Zurawski v. Texas lawsuit, but the three plaintiffs featured in the documentary are the plaintiffs who testified in the case and whose courtroom testimonies are featured in the documentary. The featured three plaintiffs are:

  • Amanda Zurawski was pregnant with her first child—a daughter named Willow—who was dying during a miscarriage during the 18th week of the pregnancy. Under Texas state law, Zurawski could not immediately terminate the miscarriage pregnancy. She went into septic shock, which is the only reason why the pregnancy was eventually terminated. This medical emergency has had long-term consequences for Zurawski’s reproductive health. The documentary shows how Zurawsk finds out more traumatic news about her ability to get pregnant again.
  • Samantha Casiano was 20 weeks pregnant with a daughter named Halo when she was told that Halo had anencephaly, a fatal fetal diagnosis that meant Halo would either be born dead or not have long to live after birth. Casiano was also not allowed to terminate the pregnancy under Texas law, and she could not afford to travel to a state where she could get this medical procedure. Knowing that Halo would die, Casiano had to give birth to Halo, who lived for just four hours after being born. “Zurawski v Texas” shows the funeral of Halo and the devastating effects on Casiano and her family.
  • Dr. Austin Dennard, an obstetrician/gynecologist, was 11 weeks pregnant when she found out that the pregnancy would not result in the child being born alive. Dennard was prevented from terminating the pregnancy due to Texas law. However, she had the resources to travel to another state where the procedure was legal. Dennard became a plaintiff in the Zurawski v Texas case to advocate for people in Texas who cannot afford to travel to other states to get legal and safe abortions. “Zurawski v Texas” has footage of what happened with another pregnancy that Dennard had during the filming of the documentary.

The lead attorney in the case is Molly Duane, a senior staff attorney from the Center for Reproductive Rights. Duane says of Zurawski and why the Center for Reproductive Rights wanted to take on this case: “What happened to her was so shocking. We connected with her and instantly clicked.” Duane adds that Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has been “exceptionally cruel” in his prosecution of abortion cases.

After the lawsuit was filed in March 2023, more people came forward with their horror stories about being denied the abortion care that they medically needed, and they wanted to be added as plaintiffs to the lawsuit. Duane’s preparations for the case are chronicled in the documentary, including her nervously rehearsing her opening arguments. Duane comes across as compassionate, principled and deeply committed to the fighting for the rights of her clients.

However, the documentary makes it looks like Duane is a crusading lawyer who did almost all of the work herself, which is definitely not realistic for a legal case of this size. Duane had a lot of behind-the-scenes help that is not adequately shown in the documentary. Autumn Katz, an associate director of U.S. litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, is seen briefly in the documentary, which could have been more informative about who else helped out in this high-profile case.

“Zurawski v Texas” has a TV procedural style to its editing that makes the documentary look a bit formulaic. However, the documentary is at its best when it takes an intimate look at how these abortion stories affect not only the plaintiffs but also people in the plaintiffs’ families. Dennard’s family is not interviewed. However, Amanda’s husband Josh Zurawski, Josh’s brother Sam Zurawski, and Amanda’s parents Mike Eid and Cheri Eid (who both live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Amanda grew up) are all interviewed. Luis Villasana, the partner of Casiano and the father of Halo, is also interviewed in the documentary.

Cheri Eid comments on Amanda’s traumatic abortion experience: “I’m a changed person because of it.” Cheri adds that she’s been a lifelong Republican but will vote differently in the next election because of the abortion issues that she has seen affect families. In the documentary, Amanda confesses that she was in recovery for an eating disorder before she got pregnant. However, Amanda says that the eating disorder has come back because of the trauma she went through over how Texas law made her pregnancy result in her having long-term reproductive damage that was preventable.

Some of what’s in this documentary might be triggering or upsetting to some viewers. A warning to sensitive viewers: Halo’s body is shown in the documentary’s funeral scene. And it might be hard to watch the scenes with Casiano’s other children coping with the devastating loss of their baby sister Halo. Casiano’s testimony is especially heart-wrenching, as she vomits in the witness stand when she has to tell what happened when she saw Halo suffer before Halo died.

“Zurawski v Texas” might not change the minds of people on either side of the abortion debate. However, the documentary gives an effective up-close look at how abortion laws in Texas affect decisions that have long-term effects on families and on the health of individuals. Amanda Zurawski’s April 2023 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is partially shown in the documentary, sums up the message that “Zurawski v Texas” has for lawmakers: “Being pregnant is difficult enough. We don’t need you to make it more terrifying and, frankly, downright dangerous to create life in this country.”

HiddenLight Productions, Story Force Entertainment and Out of Nowhere released “Zurawski v Texas” in select U.S. cinemas on October 25, 2024.

Review: ‘Conclave’ (2024), starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini

October 25, 2024

by Carla Hay

Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci in “Conclave” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

“Conclave” (2024)

Directed by Edward Berger

Some language in Italian and Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Vatican City, the dramatic film “Conclave” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Latin people) who are Catholic Church clergy people of various titles and rankings.

Culture Clash: A cardinal from the United Kingdom gets caught up in turmoil and scheming during a sequestered conclave to elect a new pope of the Catholic Church.

Culture Audience: “Conclave” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and well-made dramas about behind-the-scenes politics in the Catholic Church.

John Lithgow in “Conclave” (Photo by Philippe Antonello/Focus Features)

“Conclave” offers a gripping and well-acted portrayal of cutthroat scheming and betrayals that can go into choosing a new pope for the Catholic Church. It’s a fictional drama but entirely plausible. Twists and turns make it a unique and suspenseful movie that will surprise many viewers with its final outcome.

Directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan, “Conclave” is based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel of the same name. “Conclave” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Stellar cast performances and skillful filmmaking are the reasons why “Conclave” is a better-than-average movie, with very little flaws.

“Conclave” takes place entirely in Vatican City, the Italian city-nation ruled over by the pope of the Catholic Church. (“Conclave” was actually filmed in Rome and in Caserta, Italy.) The story is told from the perspective of a Catholic cardinal from the United Kingdom named Thomas Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes), who gets caught up in a maelstrom of secrets and potential scandals that affect his decisions throughout the movie. Cardinal Lawrence, the dean of the College of Cardinals, is a well-respected and popular leader who is a reluctant candidate to be the new pope because he is having doubts about his Catholic faith.

The movie, which takes place over the course of about one month, begins by showing Cardinal Lawrence arriving in Vatican City because an unnamed elderly pope (played by Bruno Novelli) has suddenly died, reportedly of a heart attack. As is the custom/policy of the Catholic Church, the College of Cardinals members from around the world gather in person in Vatican City to have a sequestered conclave to choose a new pope. The elected pope must receive a two-thirds majority of the votes.

“Conclave” makes it clear that the decision-making process is very much influenced by the individual cardinals’ personal political beliefs, as well as other factors such as race and nationality. Several characters play crucial roles in the sometimes-ruthless actions that take place over the course of the story. These characters are:

  • Cardinal Thomas Lawerence, who considers himself to be politically liberal and believes that the Catholic Church should be held more accountable for crimes such as sexual abuse committed by and enabled by Catholic clergy.
  • Cardinal Aldo Bellini (played by Stanley Tucci) from the United States is the candidate with the most progressive political views, such as his belief that the Catholic Church should no longer condemn homosexuality.
  • Cardinal Tremblay (played by John Lithgow) from Canada is the candidate who is the most transparently ambitious and is very skilled at getting people to be on his side.
  • Cardinal Tedesco (played by Sergio Castellitto) from Italy is the candidate who has the most conservative political views, such as his belief that homosexuality, abortion and artificial birth control should be outlawed.
  • Cardinal Adeyemi (played by Lucian Msamati) from Nigeria is another politically conservative candidate, who would be the first African/black pope of the Catholic Church if elected.
  • Cardinal Vincent Benitez (played by Carlos Diehz)—originally from Mexico but assigned to live in Kabul, Afghanistan—is a mysterious candidate who arrives on short notice and reveals that he was secretly appointed to be a cardinal by the pope who is now deceased.
  • Cardinal O’Malley (played by Brían F. O’Byrne) from Ireland is a trusted ally of Cardinal Lawrence.
  • Cardinal Wozniak (played by Jacek Koman) from Poland is a trusted confidant of the pope who is now deceased.
  • Sister Agnes (played by Isabella Rossellini) is a mostly quiet observer of what happens during the conclave.

Three weeks after the pope’s death, the conclave is set to convene. Tensions are running high because it’s very probable that a majority vote will be difficult to reach. On the day before the conclave begins and becomes sequestered, three things happen that alter the course of the story’s events.

First, Cardinal Benitez shows up with a letter that Cardinal Benitez says is proof that the pope had secretly appointed Cardinal Benitez to this position. There is no time to verify this letter, which looks like an authentic document. Cardinal Lawrence lets Cardinal Benitez join the conclave.

Second, Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini confirm their private alliance to prevent Cardinal Tedesco or any other politically conservative cardinals from winning the election. Cardinal Lawrence promises not to actively campaign for himself, so that votes can go to Cardinal Bellini instead of Cardinal Lawrence. Publicly, Cardinal Lawrence must appear outwardly neutral. Privately, he and Cardinal Bellini and a few other allies have decided that the new pope must be politically liberal so that the Catholic Church won’t go back to oppressive policies.

Third, a nervous and sweaty Cardinal Wozniak tells Cardinal Lawrence that Cardinal Tremblay was the last person to see the pope alive, and the pope had decided to fire Cardinal Tremblay. Cardinal Wozniak says that shortly before the pope died, the pope told Cardinal Wozniak that the pope had a meeting with Cardinal Tremblay to demand Cardinal Tremblay’s resignation, which was supposed to be announced. Cardinal Mendoza (played by Rony Kramer), who is not part of the conclave, was also in this meeting, according to what Cardinal Wozniak says the pope told Cardinal Wozniak.

Cardinal Wozniak says that the pope would not give details of why Cardinal Tremblay was being fired, but the pope said the reasons would soon become clear enough. The pope died soon after having a separate private meeting with Cardinal Tremblay when Cardinal Tremblay and the pope were the only ones in the room. No one has accused Cardinal Tremblay of harming the pope, but there’s room for suspicion that Cardinal Tremblay could have done something that caused the pope’s death.

On the first day of the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence delivers a speech to the College of Cardinals members who are assembled. He says in the speech: “Certainty is the deadly enemy of unity.” Cardinal Lawrence adds, “If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no doubt, and therefore no need for faith.”

The speech is a reflection of Cardinal Lawrence’s inner turmoil about his current crisis of faith. Cardinal Lawrence later confides in Cardinal Benitez that after the new pope is elected, Cardinal Lawrence plans to resign from his position as dean of the College of Cardinals because Cardinal Lawrence is having doubts about his faith in the Catholic Church.

During the first day of the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence asks Cardinal Tremblay if it’s true that the pope had demanded that Cardinal Tremblay resign or get fired, based on what Cardinal Wozniak reported. Cardinal Tremblay completely denies what Cardinal Wozniak is claiming. Cardinal Tremblay adds that Cardinal Wozniak can’t be trusted because Cardinal Wozniak has a drinking problem.

Cardinal Mendoza, the only other person in that meeting where the pope allegedly fired Cardinal Tremblay, cannot be questioned by Cardinal Lawrence while Cardinal Lawrence is sequestered. However, while everyone is sequestered, Cardinal Lawrence sends Cardinal O’Malley (who is not sequestered) to interview Cardinal Mendoza about this meeting and get a message relayed back to Cardinal Lawrence with information on what Cardinal Mendoza said in the interview. The movie shows the outcome and who was telling the truth.

During the election process, the votes fail to reach a majority at least four times. The person who gets the most votes isn’t always the same person during this process. Meanwhile, scandalous secrets emerge for a few of the candidates. And these exposés alter the course of the election. Through it all, Sister Agnes sees a lot of what is going on and then makes a move that is also impactful.

Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow, Diehz and Msamati give standout performances as five of the cardinals who are involved in this battle for papal power. Cardinal Tedesco is supposed to be very charismatic and persuasive, but his role as the presumed leading conservative candidate is surprisingly not as prominent in the movie as it could have been. Castellitto is quite good in the role, but he is overshadowed by performances that get more screen time.

Issues of race and gender are overtly and subtly mentioned in the story. In a semi-private conversation in a group dining hall, Cardinal Tedesco tells another cardinal that certain candidates have no chance of winning because of certain characteristics that they have. He then makes a nodding gesture toward Cardinal Adeyemi, in an obvious reference to Cardinal Adeyemi being black.

Except for Sister Agnes and another nun named Sister Shanumi (played by Balkissa Maiga), women are mostly background characters. And all of the women who are in these conclave quarters are there to serve the men. As “progressive” as Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini think they are about women’s issues—for example, Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini believe that Catholic women should be allowed to use artificial birth control and undergo IVF treatments—Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini still cling to the belief that women cannot hold the most powerful positions in the Catholic Church.

“Conclave” is a tension-filled depiction of power moves among Catholic Church officials that show how choosing a new pope is more about politics than about religion. The cinematography by Stéphane Fontaine is artfully filmed (there’s a stunning-looking top-down aerial scene of the conclave members holding umbrellas in the rain), while the movie’s editing and production design are also superb. “Conclave” ultimately succeeds in reminding viewers that those who have been given holy and religious titles are still flawed human beings who can do things that are anything but holy.

Focus Features released “Conclave” in U.S. cinemas on October 25, 2024.

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