Culture Representation: Taking place in Oklahoma and in Mexico, the dramatic film “King Ivory” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Latin people and Native Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Various people are affected by the fetanyl drug trade, including a drug law enforcement officer; his teenage son who gets hooked on fentanyl; and the drug traffickers who want to keep their business thriving by any means necessary.
Culture Audience: “King Ivory” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and can tolerate watching often-violent dramas with intertwined storylines about the effects of drug trafficking.
Michael Mando in “King Ivory” (Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
“King Ivory” is a flawed but absorbing drama with multiple storylines about people affected by the buying and selling of fentanyl. The talented acting performances hold the movie together during the most cumbersome moments. The second half of the movie is better than the first half.
Written and directed by John Swab, “King Ivory” gets it title from King Ivory being one of the street nicknames for fentanyl, an opioid that is more potent than heroin. “King ivory” had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival. The movie takes place in Oklahoma and in Mexico. “King Ivory” was filmed in Oklahoma.
“King Ivory” begins by showing two drug dealers getting shipment of raw fentanyl on a boat in the Pacific Ocean, near Sinaloa, Mexico. The movie then abruptly cuts to a brutal raid of a drug dealer’s house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A team of officers, led by Layne West (played by James Badge Dale), storm through the house. A shootout ensues, resulting in the deaths of the drug dealer and a woman in an upstairs bedroom. A boy, who’s about 5 or 6 years old, is found hiding in fear in a bathroom.
It’s just another day for Layne, a drug enforcement officer, who is able to keep his personal life and his career separate until these two worlds come crashing together when his teenage son Jack (played by Jasper Jones) becomes addicted to fentanyl. Layne’s work colleagues include his partner Ty Grady (played by George Carroll) and FBI counterpart Beatty (played by Rory Cochrane), who are fighting an uphill battle to stop the flow of fentanyl into Oklahoma.
“King Ivory” jumps back and forth between the storyline of the West family (which includes Layne’s wife Tess West, played by Sam Quartin) and storylines for some of the criminals responsible for trafficking fentanyl in the Tulsa area. These drug traffickers include Ramón Garza (played by Michael Mando), a bilingual Mexican cartel worker who recruits desperate Mexican immigrants to work for him; Holt Lightfeather (played by Graham Greene), an incarcerated Indian Brotherhood War chief, who runs a drug operation from Oklahoma State Penitentiary (also known as Big Mac) in McAlester, Oklahoma; and three family members of the local Irish Mafia: cold-blooded killer George “Smiley” Greene (played by Ben Foster), who is released from Big Mac during the course of the story; Smiley’s doting single mother Ginger Greene (played by Melissa Leo); and Smiley’s meth-addicted uncle Mickey (played by Ritchie Coster), who is a confidential informant for the police.
Other characters in the movie include a bilingual Mexican immigrant named Lago (played by David De La Barcena), who is mentored by Ramón; Jack’s girlfriend Colby (played by Kaylee Curry), who introduces him to fentanyl and who is a customer of Lago’s; and Brotherhood War member Jai (played by James Whitecloud), who works with Smiley after Smiley is released from prison. “King Ivory” weaves all of these storylines together in a way that isn’t always seamless, but the movie could hold viewers’ interest to see how it will end.
The acting performances move the story forward, even if some of the dialogue and scenarios are very stereotypical. Among the standouts is Dale gives a credible portrayal of a father who’s caught between doing his duty as a drug-enforcement officer and being in denial about his teenage son’s increasing drug problem. Foster does yet another depiction of an unhinged criminal. “King Ivory” might get some comparisons to director Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning 2000 film “Traffic,” but “King Ivory” is not an Oscar-worthy film. However, “King Ivory” is a solid option for viewers to see a gritty saga that looks at drug trafficking from different angles.
Saban Films and Roadside Attractions released “King Ivory” in select U.S. cinemas on November 14, 2025. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released “King Ivory” on digital and VOD on December 16, 2025. “King Ivory” will be released on DVD on February 10, 2026.
Culture Representation: Taking place from 1742 to 1784, in England and in New York state, the musical biopic “The Testament of Ann Lee” (based on true events) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Ann Lee becomes the leader of a controversial religious group called the Shakers, who practice celibacy and believe in gender equality, even when identifying who God is.
Culture Audience: “The Testament of Ann Lee” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Amanda Seyfried, filmmaker Mona Fastvold, and movies about unconventional religious leaders.
Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Stacy Martin, Lewis Pullman, Scott Handy and Matthew Beard in “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
“The Testament of Ann Lee,” just like its title character, is compelling but might be too weird for some people. This musical biopic of controversial religious leader Ann Lee is visually striking but often monotonous and saved by a noteworthy performance by Amanda Seyfried. Although “The Testament of Ann Lee” is a musical, the song-and-dance numbers are sometimes awkwardly placed in the story, giving the impression that this movie would’ve been better as a pure drama.
Directed by Mona Fastvold (who co-wrote “The Testament of Ann Lee” with Brady Corbet), “The Testament of Ann Lee” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie takes place from 1742 to 1784, in England and in New York state. The movie was filmed on location at the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts.
Although “The Testament of Ann Lee” is a biography, Fastvold explains in the movie’s production notes why she wanted to make the movie a musical: “I felt there was ample room within this historical biography for big gestures, bold theatrics, and operatic scale.” To be sure, there are some memorable scenes that show the Shakers in musical and religious ecstasy. Where the movie stumbles is in the some of the dreary dialogue that tends to drag.
The movie’s song selection consists almost entirely of traditional Shaker spirituals, such as “Worship,” “Beautiful Treasures,” “I Never Did Believe,” “Hunger and Thirst,” “Today Today, ” All Is Summer,” “Row Down O Zion,” “Building and Growing,” “I Love Mother (Pretty Mother’s Home),” “Stone Prison” and “Down to the Deep.” The movie’s two original songs are “John’s Running Song” (written by Fastvold and “The Testament of Ann Lee” composer Daniel Blumberg) and awards-bait tune “Clothed by the Sun,” written by Blumberg and performed by Seyfried.
“The Testament of Ann Lee” is told in three chapters, all in chronological order. The movie has hindsight narration by Mary Partington (played by Thomasin McKenzie), a young woman who became a loyal follower of Ann. This narration, although performed well, isn’t really necessary. Some viewers might find the narration a distraction because the narration just says what is eventually shown in screen.
Mary says in the beginning of the movie’s narration that from a very young age, Ann Lee was preoccupied with religion. At 6 years old, Ann (played by Millie-Rose Crossley) is living in her hometown of Manchester, England. She becomes the second of eight children born to her unnamed parents (played by Willem van der Vegt and Maria Sand), who are poor and uneducated. In real life, Ann’s father’s name was John, and he was a blacksmith.
One night, 6-year-old Ann sees her parents having sex. She seems to instinctively know that what her parents are doing is for adults only. When she tells her father, “I know what you do to her [Ann’s mother],” her father hits Ann hard on her hands. It’s the beginning of Ann associating sex with pain, fear and sadness.
At 12 years old, Ann (played by Esmee Hewett) has no formal education but she becomes immersed in the teachings of a Quakers sect call Society of Friends because her parents are members of this group. Ann’s lifelong best friend is her brother William Lee (played by Harry Conway), who is two years younger than Ann. During her adolescent years, Ann remains serious about religion, uninterested in dating, and receptive to the idea of gender equality.
As young adults, Ann (played by Seyfried) and William (played by Lewis Pullman) remain close and are the guardians of their niece Nancy (played by Viola Prettejohn), who is the daughter of the siblings’ deceased sister. A married couple named James Wardley (played by Scott Handy) and Jane Wardley (played by Stacy Martin) are the leaders of a Society of Friends offshoot that eventually become known as Shakers because they are Quakers who shake uncontrollably and speak in tongues during religious services.
Meanwhile, even though Ann doesn’t really want to get married, she attracts romantic interest from a local blacksmith named Abraham Standerin (played by Christopher Abbott), who is eager to start a family. Ann and Abraham have a fairly quick courtship and get married. However, Ann experiences childbirth trauma when she gives birth to four babies who all die in infancy. Sensitive viewers be warned: The childbirth and death scenes are explicit.
Ann becomes more fanatical about her religion and eventually believes that celibacy is the best way to be closest to God. You can easily predict how Abraham will react to Ann’s celibacy and what it does to their marriage. Through a series of events, the Shakers begin to believe that Ann is a messiah, so she becomes the leader of the Shakers. Ann is given the nickname Mother Ann during her leadership.
Facing persecution in England, the Shakers eventually relocate to New York’s Albany County, where they live fairly separatist, self-sufficient rural lifestyles. At the Shakers’ peak, their membership was about 6,000 people. However, the movie shows how the Shakers find out the hard way that the utopian society that they strive for can never really escape hatred from religious bigots.
“The Testament of Ann Lee” tends to get repetitive with these scenarios: Shakers religious ceremonies, followed by some type of persecution from bigoted people, followed by more Shakers religious ceremonies. The movie doesn’t pass judgment on the Shakers but it also doesn’t fully examine the internal dark sides of the cult-like aspects of this group. Any religious group that believes a human leader is a divine “superhuman” with unexplained abilities and is blindly loyal to that leader is a group that is in danger of imploding or doing other harm.
Seyfried’s performance will make viewers feel many aspects of Ann’s volatile emotional journey as a religious leader, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend and a feminist. However, because Ann is put on such a proverbial pedestal in the movie, the supporting characters seem underdeveloped in comparison. Pastor Reuben Wright (played by Tim Blake Nelson) and James Whittaker (played by Matthew Beard) become ardent Shaker allies of Ann, but their characters are a bit too generic and needed more personality. There are no bad performances in the film, but it’s very much a showcase for Seyfried, instead of being a deeply layered story of a community with an ensemble cast of fully developed characters.
“The Testament of Ann Lee” misses an opportunity to give more context to how the Shakers made people in the surrounding community feel uncomfortable because of the Shakers’ “radical” ideas of gender equality (even daring to say that God is female) and the Shakers’ religious ceremonies where people seem to become possessed by spirits that make them scream, howl and shake uncontrollably. “The Testament of Ann Lee” mainly depicts bigoted non-Shakers as weapon-carrying men who randomly show up to invade the Shakers’ property and cause hateful violence and other damage. The insidiousness of religious bigotry exists in more subtle ways, but the movie chose to show this prejudice in the most extreme ways.
Aside from skilled performances from the movie’s principal cast members, “The Testament of Ann Lee” has admirable costume design, production design and cinematography. The movie has some surrealistic elements when depicting some of Ann’s mental unraveling. “The Testament of Ann Lee” succeeds in bringing more public awareness to Ann Lee, a pioneering feminist who was ahead of her time. The movie, just like Ann Lee, gets muddled and confused about where how these ideas can work for a religion that preaches gender-equality social changes in a democracy that wants to have a separation of the church and state.
Searchlight Pictures will release “The Testament of Ann Lee” in select U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2025.
Culture Representation: Taking place in Palestine’s Gaza Strip, on January 29, 20204, the docudrama film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (based on true events) features an all-Arba cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class.
Culture Clash: Volunteers at a Red Crescent emergency call center frantically try to save a 6-year-old girl trapped in a car during an outdoor military attack.
Culture Audience: “The Voice of Hind Rajab” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania and are interested in seeing realistic depictions of innocent people caught in the crossfire of war.
Motaz Malhees with a photo of Hind Rajab in the foreground in “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Photo courtesy of Willa)
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” is a heartbreaking docudrama about the devastation caused by war, as told through the voice of a 6-year-old girl trapped in a car after a military attack in Gaza in 2024. This movie effectively depicts the race against time to save her, from the perspectives of emergency call center employees. “The Voice of Hind Rajab” uses the real voice of the trapped girl, whose name was Hind Rajab, and uses transcripts from the recorded calls as the bases for the scripted parts of the movie.
Written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, where it won several prizes: ARCA CinemaGiovani Award – Best Film of Venezia 81, CICT – UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award Croce Rossa Italiana Award, Edipo Re Award, Leoncino d’Oro Award, Sorriso Diverso Venezia Award for Best Foreign Film, and the UNIMED Award. The movie takes place in Palestine’s Gaza Strip and was actually filmed in Tunisia. “The Voice of Hind Rajab” is Tunisia’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film for the 2026 Academy Awards.
The scripted majority “The Voice of Hind Rajab” takes place on January 29, 2024. The movie, which clocks in at 89 minutes, aims to present the story as if it were happening in real time. The movie’s epilogue includes some real-life news footage of what happened after this day. The real names of the emergency responders are used in the movie.
A caption in the beginning of the film explains that on this day, residents of Gaza’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood have been ordered to evacuate by Israeli military. The movie is based on emergency phone calls made that day. At the Red Crescent emergency call center, which is staffed mostly by volunteers Palestine Red Crescent Society, a phone call comes in to Omar A. Alqam (played by Motaz Malhees), who hears a woman on the other line screaming, “They’re shooting at us!”
The phone then goes silent, and no one is responding on the other line. Omar knows the woman has most likely died. He is deeply affected because he knows he has probably been an earwitness to murder.
Another frantic call for help comes into the call center. This time, it’s a man saying his 6-yeaer-old niece Hind Rajab Hamada, who has the nickname Hanood, is trapped in a car outside while there is still active gunfire and bombings. She and other family members had been trying to escape in the car, which got caught in the battle zone and can no longer move. Omar doesn’t want to take this call, but his co-worker Rana Hassan Faqih (played by Saja Kilani) persuades him to take the call. “You were trained for this,” Rana tells Omar.
Omar hears from the uncle that Hind was in the car with a female cousin named Layan, but Layan was able to escape, and Hind is the only known family member who is alive. And then, the phone calls from Hind begin. She describes being frightened and that everyone in the car with her is covered in blood and not moving. Hind seems to know that these family members are dead. She repeatedly pleads for someone to come get her.
Having been unable to rescue someone earlier, Omar is now determined to save this girl, even if it means that he won’t follow protocol. Omar has clashes with a co-worker named Mahdi M. Aljamal (played by Amer Hlehel), who insists that Omar not interfere in Mahdi’s job of being the contact liaison for emergency rescuers. Omar grows impatient and tries to contact emergency rescuers himself.
Rana and another female co-worker named Nisreen Jeries Qawas (played by Clara Khoury) also get involved in talking to Hind on the phone. Rana is the calmer of these two women, and she shows more sympathy for Omar when he gets frustrated or has arguments with Mahdi. Another co-worker named Leila (played by Nesbat Serhan) helps as much as she can.
The movie focuses on Omar, Rana, Mahdi and Nisreen as the main people who are in communication with Hind and with other people who are involved in trying to rescue Hind. The biggest challenge is to find out exactly where Hind is located when she doesn’t know exactly where she is. Based on the gunshots and explosions heard in the background, she’s in an active war zone and could be killed at any moment by bullets or a bomb.
Help is not easy to come by in this emergency. The American Red Cross doesn’t want to get involved when asked by the Red Crescent call center to give assistance. Two emergency rescuers named Youssef Zaino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun end up being the ones to drive to where they think Hind is located. All of the cast members give convincing performances.
Ben Hania’s documentary-styled direction of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” fully immerses viewers into the panic, fear, hope, tension and feelings of helplessness that people have on both ends of the phone calls that are depicted and heard in this harrowing movie. Through it all, the voice of Hind will haunt everyone who hears her, as she desperately wants to live and be reunited with her family. It’s a voice that transcends politics and speaks to basic human decency and compassion when basic human decency and compassion are hard to find during atrocious acts of war.
Willa released “The Voice of Hind Rajab” in select U.S. cinemas on December 17, 2025. The movie was released in Tunisia on September 10, 2025.
Culture Representation: Taking place in 1977, primarily in Indianapolis, the comedy/drama film “Dead Man’s Wire” (based on true events) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and one Asian person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Disgruntled property owner Anthony “Tony” Kiritsis takes a mortgage broker hostage because he blames the banker’s family-owned company for ruining his life.
Culture Audience: “Dead Man’s Wire” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Gus Van Sant, and true crime stories about desperate hostage takers.
Colman Domingo in “Dead Man’s Wire” (Photo courtesy of Row K Entertainment)
Although it’s not as compelling as “Dog Day Afternoon,” the darkly comedic drama “Dead Man’s Wire” is also a taut and suspense-filled portrayal of a 1970s desperate hostage taker who wants a big ransom and is angry at society. Bill Skarsgård gives a memorable performance as Anthony “Tony” Kiritsis, the disgruntled hostage taker who believes he is also making a statement about the common man fighting against a corrupt system.
Written and directed by Gus Van Sant, “Dead Man’s Wire” is based on real events, with a screenplay adapted from the 2018 documentary “Dead Man’s Line,” directed by Alan Berry. “Dead Man’s Wire” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie’s story takes place primarily in Indianapolis, in 1977. “Dead Man’s Wire” was actually filmed in Louisville, Kentucky. For the purposes of this review, the real people will be referred to by their last names, while characters in the movie will be referred to by their first names.
“Dead Man’s Wire” begins on February 8, 1977, by showing Tony (who was born and raised in Indianapolis) walking into the Indianapolis office of Meridian Mortgage. Tony is carrying a long, rectangular box, which viewers will later see contains a shotgun. Tony demands to see the company owner M.L. Hall (played by Al Pacino), who isn’t at this office but is on vacation in Miami. Instead, M.L.’s son Richard “Dick” Hall (played by Dacre Montgomery) comes out in the lobby to talk to an agitated Tony.
Tony, who is a bachelor who lives alone, accuses Dick and M.L. of conspiring to steer potential investors away from Tony’s 17-acre property in Speedway, Indiana. He wants to develop this property into a lucrative shopping center. Tony took out a loan from Meridian Mortgage to buy this property. He is now heavily in mortgage debt for the property. He can’t pay off this debt and is on the verge of financial ruin.
Tony believes that M.L. and Dick want the property for themselves, which is why he thinks this father and son have sabotaged Tony’s ability to pay the mortgage, which could result in Meridian Mortgage seizing ownership of the property if Tony defaults on the mortgage. Dick denies Tony’s accusations. Tony has missed the final deadline to pay the mortgage. And he’s about to take drastic measures to keep his property and get millions of dollars.
To the shock of people in the office, Tony takes out a wired shotgun from the box and holds it to Dick’s head. He tells anyone who’ll listen that if Dick tries to escape or if anyone attacks Tony, the wire will automatically shoot Dick and kill Dick. Tony forces Dick to walk with Tony out of the office while police stand by and do nothing at first.
Tony eventually reveals what his hostage demands are: He wants to keep his property and get $5 million, which is the amount of money he thinks he would’ve made if the property had been converted into a shopping center. “Dead Man’s Wire” depicts what happens during this hostage crisis, which in real life lasted 63 hours.
The cast members, led by Skarsgård, give dedicated performances of the roles that they have in the story. However, “Dead Man’s Wire” would’ve benefited if the role of Tony had been portrayed by someone who was closer to the real age that Kiritsis was (44 years old) when he committed this kidnapping. Skarsgård was in his mid-30s when he filmed this movie. There’s something more believable about the desperation of a middle-aged person, compared to someone who’s younger than 40, committing this type of crime for the reasons that Kiritsis had.
Cast members in supporting performances include Colman Domingo as Fred Temple, a smooth-talking radio DJ at easy-listening jazz station WCYD; Myha’la (also known as Myha’la Herrold) as Linda Page, an ambitious TV reporter; and Cary Elwes as Detective Michael Grable, who becomes a chief negotiator in the crisis. In smaller supporting roles are Kelly Lynch as M.L.’s wife Mabel Hall, and Jordan Claire Robbins as Dick’s wife Doreen. Fred gets involved because he is Tony’s favorite DJ, and Tony insists on talking to Fred while holding Dick hostage.
“Dead Man’s Wire” might get some comparisons to the Oscar-winning 1975 classic “Dog Day Afternoon” (directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Frank Pierson), because both are high-anxiety movies based on true 1970s stories about “outsider” men who felt wronged by society and got involved in a hostage-taking crime to steal money. Pacino is in both films, but in “Dog Day Afternoon,” he played main character Sonny Wortzik, who took employees in a New York City bank hostage in 1972, because he wanted money to pay for his transgender girlfriend’s gender surgery.
“Dead Man’s Wire” capably recreates Kiritsis’ high-profile 1977 crime. The movie’s cinematography, production design and costume design are above-average. And the performances are gripping. However, “Dead Man’s Wire” is not an Oscar-worthy movie like “Dog Day Afternoon,” which did a better job at diving into the hostage taker’s psychology and personal history. Tony isn’t a complete mystery in “Dead Man’s Wire,” but the movie leaves many questions unanswered about him.
“Dead Man’s Wire” can get a bit repetitive with Tony’s erratic antics. And even if viewers don’t know what happened in real life with this hostage crisis, it’s still easy predict how everything is going to end. However, the epilogue tells an even wilder tale of what happened to Kiritsis after the hostage crisis was over. “Dead Man’s Wire” is an intense movie that has as much to say about true crime as it does about the fallout over real and perceived greed in capitalism.
Row K Entertainment released “Dead Man’s Wire” in select U.S. cinemas on December 12, 2025. The movie will be re-released in select U.S. cinemas on January 9, 2026, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 16, 2026.
Culture Representation: Taking place in 2025 in Italy, the dramatic film “La Grazia” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one black person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: During the last days of his final term, the elderly president of Italy must make decisions about several controversial legal issues, as he remains preoccupied by the death of his wife and finding out the identity of the lover who had an extramarital affair with her 40 years ago.
Culture Audience: “La Grazia” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, and well-acted and stylish dramas about powerful politicians.
Anna Ferzetti in “La Grazia” (Photo by Andrea Pirrello/MUBI)
“La Grazia” is an elegant and contemplative character study about a fictional Italian president during the last days of his final term. This drama includes his dilemmas on how to handle a euthanasia bill, pardons for murderers, and grief over his dead wife. The movie also has some unexpected touches of comedy, such as this retiring president developing a fascination for rap music.
Written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, “La Grazia” (which means “the grace” in Italian) had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, where “La Grazia” star Toni Servillo won the prize for Best Actor. “La Grazia” also screened at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival and the 2025 New York Film Festival. “La Grazia” was filmed in the Italian cities of Rome, Turin, and Milan, where the story in the movie also takes place. “La Grazia” is definitely an improvement from the dull and pretentious “Parthenope,” Sorrentino’s other movie released in 2025.
“La Grazia” (which takes place in 2025) begins with captions listing several of the biggest responsibilities that a president of Italy has. It’s a dry list of political duties that doesn’t take into account the nuances of human flaws, compromises and ethically murky dealmaking that are inevitable in any political job. It’s a list that doesn’t take into account how politicians often make decisions that are not necessarily what is in the best interest for the politician’s constituents but instead the decisions are often based on the politician’s own self-interest.
“La Grazia” doesn’t show too much of the pomp and circumstance of being the leader of an influential nation such as Italy. The movie is more about how one fictional Italian president named Mariano De Santis (played by Servillo) thinks about how his current decisions can affect the future of Italy, as he is being haunted by his past. Mariano’s wife Aurora died eight years ago (in 2017), and he still talks to her in his mind, especially when he is alone, with thoughts such as, “I miss you.”
Based on these thoughts and memories of Aurora, Mariano loved her almost the point of worshipping her. Losing her has been devastating for him. But there is one thing about their marriage that still bothers him: She had an extramarital affair 40 years ago. The affair ended, but Mariano was never able to find out who her lover was. Finding out this information becomes one of the central matters that Mariano wants to resolve before he retires.
Another issue that Mariano grapples with in this story is whether or not he will sign a bill into law that would make human euthanasia legal in Italy under medically approved circumstances. In the beginning of the movie, Mariano (who is Catholic but who believes in the separation of church and state) is leaning toward vetoing the bill. His feelings about euthanasia become more personal when his beloved horse Elvis becomes terminally ill, and he refuses advice to have the horse die through euthanasia. He comments on the controversial nature of this euthanasia bill: “If I don’t sign, I’m a torturer. If I do sign, I’m a murderer.”
The other major issue that Mariano has to confront before his presidency ends is whether or not to pardon two people who’ve been convicted of first-degree murder. Isa Rocca (played by Linda Messerklinger) is a 45-year-old woman who killed her husband Alessio Picone because he often physically and emotional abused her. Isa has served nine years of her prison sentence so far and wants this pardon.
The second convicted murderer is Cristiano Arpa (played by Vasco Mirandola), a 74-year-old retired history teacher, who killed his wife because she had Alzheimer’s disease, and he said it was a euthanasia killing that she wanted. Unlike Isa, Cristiano does not want to be pardoned, but many people in his Turin community (including several of his former students) have been petitioning for Cristiano to be pardoned. Mariano has a very unconventional way for a nation’s president to decide whether or not he will pardon a convicted murderer. The public reaction to how Mariano handles it is one of the more comical scenes in the movie.
And there’s another issue that is looming over Mariano that he is reluctant to confront: whether or not he will endorse a successor. Ugo Romani (played by Massimo Venturiello), Italy’s current minister of justice, is Mariano’s longest friend: Ugo and Mariano have been best friends since high school. Ugo has been up front in asking Mariano to endorse Ugo if Ugo becomes a candidate to replace Mariano. In this same meeting to request the endorsement, Ugo also asks Mariano to pardon Isa because Isa is the niece of Ugo’s love partner.
Mariano’s peers have given him the nickname Reinforced Concrete because of his reputation for being stoic, formal and unwavering (or stubborn) in his beliefs. It’s meant to be a flattering nickname because Mariano can be counted on to be consistent and stable, unlike many politicians who flip-flop on issues and alliances, depending on what will give the politicians the most advantages at the time. Mariano is somewhat flattered by this nickname but he wonders if it means he has a reputation for being too rigid.
“La Grazia” is a richly layered story that mixes realism with some of the surrealistic daydreams that Mariano has, such as when he remembers the first time that he saw Aurora, or when he is deeply moved by seeing an Italian astronaut who has been living alone in space station for a year. For all of Mariano’s power and being surrounded by people who want to be close to him, “La Grazia” shows with unsparing detail that he is experiencing the old adage, “It’s lonely at the top.”
Mariano has a very small inner circle of people whom he trusts. His workaholic bachelorette daughter Dorotea De Santis (played by Anna Ferzetti), who is his personal aide, probably knows him better than anyone who’s still alive. Another longtime close friend is art critic Coco Valori (played by Milvia Marigliano), who is outspoken and sassy. Mariano trusts their opinions because they are not “yes” people who say only what they think he wants to hear. Ugo is a longtime friend, but Mariano’s trust in Ugo begins to waver when he begins to suspect that Ugo was Aurora’s secret lover.
An early scene in “La Grazia” shows the type of banter that Mariano has with Dorotea, who is very protective about Mariano’s health because her mother . Mariano smoking a cigarette outside. And when he goes back inside the capital building where he works, Dorotea says in a mildly scolding manner, “President DeSantis, You’ve been smoking.” Mariano denies that he was smoking, but Dorotea knows better. Dorotea says, “May I remind you that you only have one lung”?” Mariano replies, “No, since I only had two.”
Mariano’s other child is a son named Riccardo De Santis (played by Francesco Martino), a pop music songwriter who has recently moved to Montreal. Mariano tries to understand more about pop music, which leads him to stumble into developing a fascination with rap music that celebrates decadent lifestyles. Riccardo appears briefly in the movie in a video chat that he and Dorotea have with Mariano.
Another character who doesn’t have a lot of screen time in the movie but who is important to Mariano is military general Lanfranco Mare (played by Giuseppe Gaiani), a warmonger who has the nickname Night-Mare. The Catholic Church’s current Pope (played by Rufin Doh Zeyenouin) makes short but impactful appearances in scenes where he is portrayed as a jovial scooter-riding clergy leader who gives common-sense advice to Mariano and tells Mariano that Mariano has “la grazia.” And there’s an unnamed editorial director of Vogue magazine (voiced by Ornella Amodio) who has been calling to request an interview with Mariano to talk about what he likes to wear when he’s not working. This interview ends up being more than just about Mariano’s fashion choices.
Although all of the cast members perform well in their roles, “La Grazia” is truly anchored by Servillo’s absorbing performance, which skillfully shows Mariano’s inner and outer lives. Daria D’Antonio’s cinematography for “La Grazia” is sumptuous and breathtaking (a scene that takes place at the La Scala Opera House is one of the visual standouts) and immerses viewers in the realistic and the fantastical elements of the film. At 132 minutes, “La Grazia” tends to meander in some scenes and could’ve used better editing to make it a more cohesive story. However, it’s a very stylish and unique film where the story’s major questions are answered by the end of the movie, which leaves room for some lighthearted comedy amidst some of the emotionally heavy subject matter.
MUBI released “La Grazia” in select U.S. cinemas on December 5, 2025. The MUBI streaming service will premiere the movie on January 23, 2026.
Culture Representation: Taking place at the end of the 16th century in Denmark, the animated film “Scarlet” (inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”) features characters who live in a kingdom and who exist in an Otherworld afterlife.
Culture Clash: After her king father is murdered by his evil brother, a princess vows to avenge and finds herself in a mysterious Otherworld afterlife, where she meets a guy from the 21st century who shows her a different way of thinking.
Culture Audience: “Scarlet” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda and time-traveling fantasy anime films that blend action adventure with existential life philosophies.
Hijiri (voiced by Masaki Okada) and Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida) in “Scarlet” (Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the visually dazzling anime film “Scarlet” has some predictable action in this adventure story about a princess avenging her father’s murder. The movie has a few surprises that save the narrative. “Scarlet” is a fairly simple story that has some deeper philosophical messages about revenge versus forgiveness.
Written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda, “Scarlet” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. “Scarlet” is not an exact replica of “Hamlet.” It borrows elements from “Hamlet,” but is a completely different story.
In the beginning of “Scarlet” (which takes place at the end of the 16th century in Denmark), a princess named Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida) has an idyllic life. Her kind and gentle father Amlet (voiced by Masachika Ichimura), who is the king of Denmark, adores her and spends quality time with her. Scarlet, who is an only child, wants to make her father proud. “I’ll be the princess you want to be,” she tells Amlet. Scarlet is definitely a “daddy’s girl” because she barely interacts with her mother Gertrude (voiced by Yuki Saito), who will further alienate herself from Scarlet later in the story.
The character of Scarlet is based on the character of Hamlet. Just like in “Hamlet,” Denmark and Norway are feuding with each other. Amlet has an evil brother named Claudius (voiced by Koji Yakusho), who wants to be king. Claudius has Amlet branded as an unpatriotic traitor to Denmark, which leads to Amlet being executed in public. Scarlet witnesses this horrific murder.
With Amlet dead, Claudius becomes king and marries Gertrude. In this movie, Gertrude is shown having a secret affair with Claudius before Amlet died. Scarlet wants to avenge her father’s death and begins training to become a warrior. Claudius wants to get rid of any possible threat to his power as king, so he poisons Scarlet.
Scarlet ends up in an Otherworld afterlife (which looks like a desert with mountains), inhabited by beings who could be dead or alive in the real world. While in this afterlife, she meets a young man from the 21st century named Hijiri (voiced by Masaki Okada), who is friendly and optimistic, in contrast to Scarlet, who is consumed with anger and rage. Over time, Hijiri and Scarlet develop an attraction to each other, but they come from two different worlds. In the production notes for “Scarlet,” Hosoda says that the character of Hijiri is inspired by the character of Ophelia in “Hamlet.”
Most of “Scarlet” consists of Scarlet and Hijiri battling various opponents in this Otherworld afterlife, while Scarlet is determined to find Claudius so she can kill him. Characters from “Hamlet” are also characters in “Scarlet.” Polonius (voiced by Kazuhiro Yamaji) is Claudius’ trusted adviser. Laertes (voiced by Tokio Emoto) is Polonius’ son. Rosencrantz (voiced by Munetaka Aoki) and Guildenstern (voiced by Shota Sometani) are two courtiers who are sent by Claudius to find and kill Scarlet in this afterlife.
The ghost of Amlet makes multiple appearances. And there’s a graveyard scene in “Scarlet” that is a very different version of the graveyard scene in “Hamlet.” In one part of the movie, Scarlet gets a glimpse of what her life would be like if she lived in the 21st century with Hijiri. The movie ends with a revelation that’s meant to pack an emotional punch.
“Scarlet” has some harrowing scenes involving the supernatural and deadly beasts, such as a dragon. The movie’s voice performances are perfectly adequate but don’t particularly elevate the movie. If there’s any criticism for some of the fight scenes, there are a few too many times that the movie has a “damsel in distress” scenario where Hijiri has to come to the rescue. Even with all the action sequences, the movie is at its best with its emotional dilemmas, when Scarlet has to confront her revenge motives, decide how far she’s willing to go, and wonder if it was all worth it in the end.
Sony Pictures Classics will release “Scarlet” in select U.S. cinemas on December 12, 2025. The movie will be re-released in select U.S. cinemas on February 6, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on February 13, 2025.
Culture Representation: Taking place in New Jersey, the comedy/drama film “Bugonia” (based on the film “Save the Green Planet!”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans, Asians and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Two cousins, who are conspiracy theorists, kidnap a famous and powerful CEO of a medical company because they think she’s an outer-space alien who plans to destroy Earth.
Culture Audience: “Bugonia” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, and oddball movies that have serious messages cloaked in dark comedy.
Stavros Halkias in “Bugonia” (Photo by Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features)
“Bugonia” is more than a dark comedy about conspiracy theorists kidnapping a high-powered CEO and hiding her in a house. It’s also a sly and subversive warning about an emergency that’s in plain sight but is often ignored. “Bugonia” can get a bit repetitive with the wacky conflict scenes between the kidnappers and the CEO, but viewers who are patient enough watch the entire movie won’t be fully prepared for the impactful way that this movie ends.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Will Tracy, “Bugonia” is based on the 2003 South Korean movie “Save the Green Planet!,” written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan. “Bugonia” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival. The movie’s story takes place in New Jersey, but “Bugonia” was actually filmed in London, Greece and Atlanta.
The conspiracy theorists/kidnappers are domineering Teddy Gatz (played by Jesse Plemons) and passive Don (played by Aidan Delbis), two ne’er-do-wells who kidnap Michelle Fuller (played by Emma Stone), the CEO of Auxolith Medical, a company worth billions. Teddy works for Auxolith as a package processer who scans delivery packages. Teddy (who is the bossy leader of the duo) and Don (who is seems to have autism and learning disabilities) believe that Michelle is really an outer-space alien who is planning to destroy Earth.
Michelle is famous enough to be on the cover of magazines such as Time and Fortune. She has a brittle personality that she often masks by being professionally cordial when she has to be. Michelle is 45 years old, but she looks like she’s in her 30s. The reason why she looks much younger than 45 is explained in the movie. In the beginning of “Bugonia,” Michelle is seen filming a public-relations video in response to a recent Auxolith scandal, which is also revealed in the movie.
Most of “Bugonia” shows what happens when Teddy and Don keep Michelle captive in Teddy’s dilapidated house that is in an isolated rural area. It’s a battle of wits that also involves physical fights and torture. One of the first things that Teddy and Don do to Michelle is shave off all the hair on her head and cover her body in antihistamine cream.
Michelle isn’t the only one subjected to degrading and painful acts. Near the beginning of the movie, Teddy orders Don to ingest a toxin that will do a chemical castration of Don’s genitals because Teddy says that Don can no longer be allowed to procreate. Teddy has also ingested this castration chemical.
The disappearance of Michelle makes big news. A local police officer named Casey Boyd (played by Stavros Halkias) investigates the disappearance. Viewers will have to suspend disbelief that this type of cop is the only law-enforcement official in the movie who’s seen doing any real investigating for such a high-profile case. Casey has a connection to Teddy because Casey used to be Teddy’s babysitter when Teddy was a child.
Alicia Silverstone has a supporting role in “Bugonia” as Sandy Gatz, Teddy’s ailing mother, who is in a coma at a hospice. Sandy is seen in a few dream-like flashback scenes that show a brief glimpse of what Sandy was like before she was in a coma. The reason why she’s in a coma is mentioned in the movie.
“Bugonia” (which has compelling performances from Plemons and Stone) keeps viewers guessing about how much truth could be in the seemingly bizarre theories that Teddy and Don are convinced are real. The movie pokes fun at society’s tendency to be paranoid about “outside enemies,” when much of the harm and danger can come from within that society. “Bugonia” has a twisted and unconventional way of making the statement that it does at the end of the movie, but there’s no ambiguity about what that powerful message is saying.
Focus Features will release “Bugonia” in select U.S. cinemas on October 24, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on October 31, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on November 25, 2025.
Culture Representation: Taking place in South Korea, the comedy/drama film “No Other Choice” (based on the novel “The Ax”) features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A manager at a paper manufacturing company gets laid off after 25 years with the company, and he decides to murder the rival applicants for the job that he wants.
Culture Audience: “No Other Choice” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the movie’s headliners, and dark comedies that skewer the cutthroat sides of business.
Lee Byung-hun in “No Other Choice” (Photo courtesy of Neon)
“No Other Choice” is a compelling satirical look at unemployment trauma and how a laid-off manager goes to extreme lengths to eliminate competition for a new job that he wants. The movie takes a while to get suspenseful, but the performances are superb. This dark comedy is a searing commentary on how a company making layoffs for cost-cutting reasons can take a very real and damaging toll on human lives that go beyond what can be measured in financial terms.
Directed by Park Chan-wook, “No Other Choice” was co-written by Park, Don McKellar, Lee Kyoung-mi and Lee Ja-hye. The movie is adapted from Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax,” which was set in the United States. “No Other Choice” takes place in South Korea. The movie had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and made the rounds at other film festivals in 2005, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival.
“No Other Choice” begins by showing the idyllic family life of factory manager Yoo Man-su (played by Lee Byung-hun) at their comfortable middle-class home. Man-su, his wife Lee Mi-ri (played by Son Ye-jin), their two children—son Si-One (who is about 11 or 12 years old) and their non-verbal daughter Ri-One (who is 10 years old)—are having a barbecue party in their backyard for Mi-ri because it’s her birthday. The four family members are the only people at this party.
Mi-ri (who works as a dental hygienist) and Man-su are happily married. Their children are good kids who don’t cause any problems. The family seems to be so picture-perfect, they’ve named their two Golden Retriever dogs (Si-Two and Ri-Two) after the two children. Mi-ri opens her birthday gift from Man-su. It’s a pair of high-heeled shoes. She jokes good-naturedly, “They say you shouldn’t give shoes to your lover because they might run away.
For the past 25 years, Man-su has been employed by Solar Paper, a paper manufacturing company. He is currently a well-respected manager of a Solar Paper factory. He prides himself on being a paper expert. During the barbecue party, Man-soo reads note that he received the company. The note says, “Thanks for your hard work at Solar Paper.” Man-su gathers his family around him so they can give each other a group hug. “I have it all,” Man-su says aloud with happiness and contentment.
Man-su’s stable life will soon be disrupted by changes at Solar Paper. First, he’s ordered to lay off 20% of his staff due to budget cuts. And then, Man-su is laid off too. Man-su is in shock because he thought that his longevity, hard work, excellent performance reviews, and loyalty to the company would make him immune from the layoffs. At the suggestion of Solar Paper, a despondent Man-su joins a support group for laid-off employees.
Three months later, the only work that Man-su has been able to find is a low-paying job stocking products at a big-box retail store. One of his former Solar Paper subordinates named Nam-su, who was also laid off by Solar Paper, now works for a rival company called Papyrus. Nam-su helps Man-su get a job interview at Papryus, but it’s a job at a lower level than what Man-su had at Solar Paper. In fact, if Man-su gets this job at Papyrus, he would have to report to Nam-su.
Man-su needs the money, so he does the job interview, which is conducted by a panel of four men. During the interview, Man-su rattles off a list of his accomplishments. When he’s asked what he think is his biggest weakness, Man-su replies that his biggest weakness is not being able to answer that question. This cheekiness doesn’t work. Man-su doesn’t get the job.
At home, Man-su is feeling the pressure of bringing in an income so that he and his family can continue in the life to which they’ve become accustomed. In order to reduce their expenses, the Man-Su and Miri cancel the family’s Netflix subscription and give the family’s two dogs to Mi-ri’s parents (played by Oh Gwang-rok and Lee Yong-nyeo), but Mi-ri does not want to cancel Ri-One’s cello lessons because Ri-One is a very talented cello player. Mi-ri says that Ri-One is a musical prodigy who should have a teacher who is a college-level music professor.
Man-su’s biggest fear is that he will have to sell their house, which was his childhood home that he bought after he and his family moved around several times. He fulfilled a major dream by buying this house. However, the house mortgage is in default, and the house will be in foreclosure if the overdue mortgage is not paid in three months. Mi-ri thinks that they should sell the house, but Man-su vehemently disagrees.
Desperate people sometimes do desperate things. Man-su applies for a manager position at another company called Moon Paper, which is even more successful than Solar Paper. The job would also pay more than the salary that Man-su had at Solar Paper. With the deadline approaching to pay his overdue mortgage, Man-su finds out who else applied for the job, and he plans to kill them all.
One of the most darkly comedic parts of the movie is how Man-su deals with a Moon Paper job applicant rival named Koo Beom-mo (played by Lee Sung-min), who has been unemployed for eight months, is often drunk, and is having marital problems with his aspiring actress wife Lee A-ra (played by Yeom Hye-ran), who resents having to be the sole source of income for their household. Other supporting characters in the movie are Moon Paper line manager Choi Sun-chul (played by Park Hee-soon) and Moon Paper job applicant Ko Si-jo (played by Cha Seung-won).
“No Other Choice” (which clocks in at 139 minutes) doesn’t get to the murder schemes until the last half of the film. It’s the movie’s way of showing the gradual mental unraveling of Man-su and how he is planning on committing crimes that he wouldn’t have ever considered doing if hadn’t lost his job. Although all of the acting is done very well, Lee Byung-hun is the obvious standout as the troubled Man-su, an anti-hero who is both overwhelmed but also calculating about his predicament.
“No Other Choice,” which has impressive cinematography by Kim Woo-hyung, is a rare movie that skillfully balances a tone that is darkly disturbing and absurdly comedic. The movie also invites viewers to ponder the emotional cost of Man-su’s murderous schemes. Even if Man-su succeeds in getting what he wants, will he lose his soul in the process? Considering that there’s no guarantee that he won’t get laid off from the job that he wants, “No Other Choice” has an ironic title and story about obsessive tunnel vision that doesn’t consider life’s unexpected possibilities.
Neon will release “No Other Choice” in select U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas. A sneak preview of the movie will be shown in U.S. cinemas on December 8, 2025. “No Other Choice” was released in South Korea on September 25, 2025.
Greta Lee and Willem Dafoe in “Late Fame” (Photo courtesy of Late Fame LLC)
“Late Fame”
Directed by Kent Jones
Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the dramatic film “Late Fame” (based on the novella of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: An elderly post-office worker, who gave up on being a poet after his 1979 book of poems was a commercial failure, is “rediscovered” by a group of young artists, who want him to make a comeback.
Culture Audience: “Late Fame” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and movies that take aim at false images that are presented when artists try to market themselves as “authentic.”
The witty drama “Late Fame” gives amusingly accurate observations about the pretensions of ambitious artists. Willem Dafoe exquisitely plays a disillusioned poet who is plucked from obscurity for an agenda-driven comeback. Although “Late Fame” gives a very specific portrait of what New York City’s artistic scene can be like in the 2020s, many of the movie’s themes can apply to any artistic community that has no shortage of brilliant talent as well as wannabes and pretenders.
Directed by Kent Jones and written by Samy Burch, “Late Fame” is adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s 1894 novella of the same name. “Late Fame” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival. The movie was filmed on location in New York City.
“Late Fame” begins by showing post-office worker Ed Saxberger (played by Dafoe) coming home to his modest apartment in New York City’s Manhattan borough. Ed (who is in his late 60s or early 70s) is a bachelor who lives alone and doesn’t have much of a social life, except for hanging out with a few co-workers at a local bar/pool hall. It’s implied that Ed has no children because there is no mention of him being a father. If Ed was ever married, that’s not mentioned in the movie either.
Ed mentions later in the movie that when he was 17 years old and a high-school dropout from western Pennsylvania, he moved to New York City with very little money and had big dreams of becoming a professional poet. In 1979, Ed had a book of poems published titled “Way Past Go.” The book was a flop and has long since been out of print. Shortly after the commercial failure of “Way Past Go,” Ed gave up his dreams to be a poet. He has been working as mail sorter for the U.S. Postal Service for the past 37 years.
When Ed arrives at his apartment building on this particular day, he finds out from his nosy neighbor Paulie (played by Tony Torn) that a young male admirer has been waiting “like a prom date” for Ed outside of the building. Ed is curious about who this stranger is, so Ed goes to talk to him. The stranger introduces himself as Wilson Meyers (played by Edmund Donovan), who is in his early-to-mid-30s, and says he prefers to be called by his last name.
Meyers already knows who Ed is and tells him breathlessly and enthusiastically, “I read ‘Way Past Go.’ It’s as if the poems were written yesterday. They just slap you across the face with their relevancy.”
Ed is surprised and flattered. Meyers mentions that he bought “Way Past Go” at a place that sells out-of-print books. When Meyers asks Ed what Ed is doing with his life now, Ed matter-of-factly says that he’s a postal service worker who sorts mail. “Ah, a man of letters,” Meyers says as a friendly joke.
Meyers (who describes himself as a poet) offers to take Ed out to dinner and gushes to Ed, “You wrote a masterpiece, whether people know it or not.” Ed thanks Meyers for the compliments but politely declines the dinner offer.
Meyers tells Ed that Meyers isn’t the only admirer of Ed’s work. Meyers says that he’s part of a small group of artists called the Enthusiasm Society, who are all fans of “Way Past Go” and would love to meet Ed. Meyers says that Ed has an open invitation to hang out with the Enthusiasm Society at a local cafe called Any Old Place in Manhattan’s East Village, where the group meets on a regular basis.
When Ed gets home, he listens to a voice mail message from his sister Barbara (voiced by Welker White), who is annoyed that Ed hasn’t been returning her phone calls. She gives an update on their ailing brother Jimmy, who is apparently close to dying. Barbara scolds Ed for not seeming to care about Jimmy. “He’s your brother too,” she says.
Ed’s reluctance to return his sister’s phone calls is the movie’s only indication that Ed’s family represents a painful part of his past that Ed feels he doesn’t want to revisit. When Ed decides to go to the cafe to meet the Enthusiasm Society, you get the sense it’s not just because of curiosity but also because a part of him might be seeking a new family, especially a group that he knows already adores him before even knowing him.
Ed meets the Enthusiasm Society when he sees stalkerish Meyers again. Meyers asks Ed if he can read and evaluate Meyers’ poetry. It’s during this conversation that Meyers persuades Ed to meet the other members of the Enthusiasm Society, who mostly want to be referred to by their last names.
As expected, the members of the Enthusiasm Society treat Ed like a long-lost celebrity. Meyers introduces the rest of the group to Ed. They are mostly in their mid-to-late 20s. Ed soon finds out that most of the members of the Enthusiasm Society aren’t really struggling financially because they come from affluent families who are funding their artistic endeavors.
Chia Carmichael (played by Arthur Langlie) is a fairly quiet aspiring playwright. Brussard (played by Clay Singer) is a brooding cynic who is a cultural critic/essayist. Sherfey Fernandez (played by Graham Campbell) is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and has taken a vow of silence, so he is non-verbal for the entire movie. Winn (played by Luca Padovan) is a very perky multi-format writer and the youngest member of the group: He’s about 17 years old and still in high school.
Meyers tells Ed that the members of the Enthusiasm Society have a particular fondness for and want to emulate the beatnik artists of the mid-to-late 20th century. (Allen Ginsberg is a particular hero of the Enthusiasm Society.) Meyers says that the Enthusiasm Society consists of counterculture non-conformists who think social media and technology addictions are ruining society. The Enthusiasm Society members have a particular disdain for social media influencers, whom they point out in the cafe as shallow non-intellectuals.
Someone else is part of the group and shows up later: Her name is Gloria Gardner (played by Greta Lee), who is a theater actress and cabaret singer. Gloria is the only woman and only person of color in the Enthusiasm Society. And until Ed is asked to join the group, Gloria (who is in her early 40s) was the oldest member of the Enthusiasm Society.
Everyone tells each other a little bit about their personal backgrounds, except for Gloria, whose personal background is “murky,” according to Meyers. When Gloria does show up, she does a lot of preening and swanning. She talks a lot about how hard it is to get funding for a play that she wants to do. Mostly, she acts like she’s a fabulous and in-demand diva, even though it’s an obvious façade.
When the Enthusiasm Society members decide to have dinner at a nearby restaurant, the group wants to hear Ed tell stories of any respected artists whom he used to know. When he’s asked if he knew any of the Beat Poets, Ed says no. Gloria leans over and quietly suggests to Ed that when someone asks him that question, he should lie and say yes. Clearly, Gloria is accustomed to putting on false airs for herself, so it’s no wonder she thinks other people should do it too.
Ed is attracted to Gloria, but Brussard privately warns Ed that Gloria likes to manipulate men and is already involved with Carmichael. Gloria senses that Brussard has been saying negative things about her to Ed. She tells Ed that Brussard made a pass at her but she rejected Brussard.
Gloria leans into Ed and says seductively, “I have a high tolerance for despicable men.” Regardless of who’s telling the truth, it doesn’t lessen Ed’s attraction to Gloria. She openly flirts with him and goes out of her way to spend some time alone with him.
It isn’t long before Meyers tells Ed that the Enthusiasm Society is having an introductory event where the members will have their work performed in public. Meyers wants this event to be a showcase for Ed’s comeback and suggests that Ed write a new poem that Gloria can perform at this event. Ed is taken aback by this idea, but he eventually agrees to this plan.
Meyers invites Ed over to his place so they can get to know each other better. It’s here that Ed finds out how rich Meyers really is and how Meyers (who doesn’t have a job) has been living off of his family’s money. (Observant viewers will notice at the end of the scene that Meyers, who supposedly is very anti-technology, uses Amazon’s A.I. virtual assistant Alexa in his home, which is something that’s revealed after Ed’s visit ends.) Meyers, who has a master of arts degree from New York University, shrugs off his privileged lifestyle and says that the Enthusiasm Society doesn’t care about where its members went to school or who their fathers are.
But then, Meyers proceeds to ask Ed the type of questions that are aimed out finding out Ed’s educational background and family status. Ed mentions how he dropped out of high school and moved to New York City at age 17. When Meyers asks if Ed is Jewish (because Ed’s last name is Saxberger), Ed says his father was a non-practicing Jew, and his mother was a Catholic homemaker.
Meyers seems to think Ed being a high-school dropout who didn’t come from a wealthy family makes Ed look like some type of “cool” bohemian. Meyers suggests to Ed that Ed should write a memoir. It’s an idea that Ed is not enthusiastic about at all. However, Ed is open to the possibility of getting a new book deal to publish any of his new poetry. The attention that Ed gets from the Enthusiasm Society has renewed his interest in being a poet.
Meyers sets up a meeting with a literary agent whom he knows named Harrison (played by Jake Lacy), who works closely with a top publishing company called Novell. This meeting is an eye-opening experience for Ed, who finds out that what this agent has in mind for Ed is not what Ed wants to do. It’s also the first indication that Meyers wants to push Ed in a direction befitting what Meyers wants to do by promoting Ed as being worthy of a comeback.
As Ed spends more time with the Enthusiasm Society, their “high and mighty” intellectual ways start to rub off on him. Ed starts to avoid his blue-collar buddies Arnold (played by Clark Johnson), Irv (played by Stephen Badalamenti), Hank (played by Daniel Oreskes) and Leonard (played by William Hill) because Ed says he’s too busy with his new set of friends who admire him as a poet. And when Ed does hang out with his old friends, such as during Arnold’s birthday party, Ed literally says they’re too lowbrow for him. This insult happens after Ed gives “Way Past Go” as a birthday gift to Arnold, and Ed gets lightly mocked for it by the men at the party.
Ed ignoring his siblings and distancing himself from his longtime friends might sound like he’s a self-centered jerk. However, Ed has a very compassionate side to him, particularly when it comes to Gloria, whom he treats very well. His infatuation with Gloria, just like the Enthusiasm Society’s unexpected passion for Ed as a poet, seems to have reawakened Ed to a past version of himself that he thought had long disappeared.
“Late Fame” drops enough hints to show that certain people in the Enthusiasm Society are not exactly who they pretend to be. Why are they, especially Meyers, so fixated on making Ed a famous and widely respected poet? Ed is caught up in the non-stop flattery until he starts to see the true natures of some people who want to attach themselves to him.
“Late Fame” screenwriter Burch (who was Oscar-nominated for 2023’s “May December” screenplay) mines similar territory about how delusion and deceit can be a toxic mix in crafting public images. In addition to serving up biting commentary on privileged people pretending to be edgy struggling artists, “Late Fame” also skewers the hypocrisy that is often part of creating artists’ public personas. Ed has never been a “fake it ’til you make it” kind of guy, so he’s in for a rude awakening when he finds out that some of the aspiring artists he thinks are his new friends have no problem with telling lies to get ahead.
It leads to the inevitable question: How much of the Enthusiasm Society’s admiration for Ed is real or fake? It’s the part of the story that is the most intriguing. Dafoe (who can always be counted on to give above-average performances, even in his worst movies) is in fine form in “Late Fame,” as someone who has renewed hope in getting another chance at a long-abandoned dream. Dafoe’s portrayal of Ed has moments of wistfulness that are somewhat heartbreaking when you know that Ed’s Enthusiasm Society “fan club” is built on a shaky foundation of hidden agendas.
Jones’ engaging direction of “Late Fame” infuses an authentic blend of New York City’s artistic community in the present-day, by depicting those who are hungry for recognition and want the grit and the glamour, while chasing after fame and artistic credibility. The movie’s visual style and music also evoke some fond nostalgia for New York City of the 1970s, the decade that Ed had his biggest chance of “making it” as a poet. (Lou Reed’s 1976 songs “Charley’s Girl” and “Ooh Baby” are part of the soundtrack.) There’s a wonderfully simple but impactful scene of Ed taking out photo albums and scrapbooks when he’s by himself at his apartment, to remind himself of the “good old days” before his poet dreams were crushed.
Lee and Donovan also give standout performances for characters who are both similar and different from each other. Lee’s Gloria is obviously a “fake it ’til you make it” type of person, but you immediately sense that she does it out of necessity because she doesn’t have a rich family to support her, like Meyers does. Gloria also has the talent to back up her aspirations. There’s a scene where Gloria invites Ed to see her do a cabaret performance, and she sings a terrific rendition of “Surabaya Johnny” from the Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht musical “Happy End.” Ed is suitably entranced.
Donovan’s skillful portrayal of Meyers morphs from being a star-struck exuberant fan to being a calculating control freak. There are many different sides to Meyers, depending on who he’s talking to and what he wants. He can go from be a seemingly progresssive thinker who wants to relate to everyday people to being an elitist snob of the highest order. The Enthusiasm Society is supposed to be democratic, but Meyers often acts like a dictator.
“Late Fame” is not a cynical indictment of people who want another chance at pursuing goals and dreams. And although the movie has clear examples of how the “haves” and “have nots” can operate differently in society, “Late Fame” is not a complete attack on those who are more privileged than others. Rather, “Late Fame” is a clever and memorable story about identity and what can happen if we choose to let other people define who we really are.
UPDATE: Magnolia Pictures will release “Late Fame” on a date to be announced in 2026.
Culture Representation: Taking place in the United States, Ireland, and France, the dramatic film “Father Mother Sister Brother” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with two African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: In this anthology film with three separate stories, various family members visit each other in reunions that have certain levels of tension.
Culture Audience: “Father Mother Sister Brother” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, and low-key independent films about families.
Luka Sabbat and Inya Moore in “Father Mother Sister Brother” (Photo courtesy of MUBI)
Viewers who know in advance that “Father Mother Sister Brother” is more of a character study than a plot-driven film will be more likely to appreciate this talkative and quirky drama. The movie has emotionally authentic depictions of family relationships. The storytelling is an uneven hodgepodge, but the talented cast’s performances are worth watching.
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, “Father Mother Sister Brother” had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, the festival’s top prize. “Father Mother Sister Brother” had its North American premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival. The movie was filmed on location in three separate countries for each story: the United States, Ireland, and France.
“Father”
The first story, titled “Father,” features two siblings named Jeff (played by Adam Driver) and Emily (played by Mayim Bialik) sharing a car ride on the way to visit their unnamed widowed father (played by Tom Waits) on a winter’s day somewhere in New Jersey. The siblings’ widowed father lives in isolation in a small, remote house near a lake. Jeff (whose occupation is not stated in the movie) and Emily (who works in academia) don’t see their eccentric father very often.
Jeff and Emily don’t see each other on a regular basis either, but they keep in touch by phone or email. Therefore, these family members’ conversations with each other are often awkward—a mixture of polite small talk and judgmental remarks. The death of the siblings’ mother (when this death happened s never stated in the movie) seems to have made the siblings and their father more distant from each other.
Emily has a noticeably smug attitude with Jeff because she seems to think her life is “perfect” (married with kids, good job, comfortable lifestyle), compared to the life Jeff, who divorced, has no children, and is still emotionally struggling after his divorce. In the car ride on the way to their father’s house (Jeff is driving), Emily asks Jeff where their retired father gets money because she’s not sure if he’s eligible for Social Security benefits due to his long history of “not having a real job.”
Jeff replies, “I’m not completely sure. He always seems to have projects.” It leads to Emily asking Jeff if he’s sent money to their father recently. Jeff admits that he occasionally sends money to their father byut only because their father said he needed money for emergency repairs, such a fixing the house’s well, a septic disaster, and a caved-in wall. Jeff also says that their father told Jeff that the father can barely pay his for electricity and phone bills.
Emily comments that her husband Harold doesn’t like that Jeff sends money to the siblings’ father. Jeff admits that his ex-wife Cheryl didn’t like it either. Emily remarks, “That’s probably why she divorced you.” Emily seems to immediately regret saying this hurtful comment and tells Jeff that she’s sorry.
Before the siblings arrive, their father is seen quickly trying to tdy up his cluttered house as much as he can. He gives the impression that he like to hold on to a lot of old possessions.: His furnishings are outdated, and he prefers use a beat-up looking landline phone instead of a cell phone. When the siblings are at the house, the siblings and father greet each other warmly, but the conversation is strained.
The father’s mental health is alluded to when Jeff asks if the father if he’s had any recent “episodes” like the “episode” that the father had at the funeral of the siblings’ mother. The father says no. Jeff replies, “You handled it admirably.” The father mentions that he’s not taking any medication, but he adds, “I take a drink now and then.”
Emily notices that the father is wearing a Rolex watch, but he insists that it’s a fake Rolex. The father is fixated on serving water to drink for the three of them. When the father wants to make a celebratory toast with the glasses of water, Jeff asks if water can really be used to give a toast.
“Father” is the most comedic of the three stories, mainly because of Waits’ performance, where he plays his gravelly-voiced, disheveled persona to the hilt. “Father” is also the most intriguing of the three stories because of what happens in the last five minutes. It’s enough to say that all is not what it seems with one of these family members.
“Mother”
“Mother,” the second story, takes place in the Irish capital of Dublin. It’s another scenario where two siblings meet up with an elderly parent in the parent’s home. In this situation, the three family members are an unnamed single mother (played by Charlotte Rampling), her prim daughter Timothea (played by Cate Blanchett), and Timothea’s free-spirited younger sister Lilith (played by Vicky Krieps). All three women have gathered for their annual tradition of having tea with this dignifed and formal mother in her stately, well-kept home.
It’s mentioned that the mother talks on the phone with Timothea and Lilith about once every few weeks. Timothea calls more often than Lilith. Timothea was recently appointed to a lofty position at a historical society. It’s not stated what Lilith does for a living.
Timothea and Lilith drove in separate cars to their mother’s home. Timothea was driving her car but had some car trouble and called to tell her mother why Timothea was running late. Lilith got a car ride from a woman named Jeanette (played by Sarah Greene), who is Lilith’s lover, but Lilith doesn’t want Lilith’s mother to know. Lilith asks Jeanette to pretend that Jeanette is Lilith’s Uber driver.
Jeanette seems slightly amused and not offended, which is an indication that she and Lilith haven’t been dating each other for very long or have the type of casual relationship that Jeanette doesn’t care if Lilith’s mother is deceived about the true nature of the relationship. Later, Lilith tells her mother that she’s been dating a man named Richard but doesn’t want to marry him. “I’m not sure I want to be tied to a man,” says Lillith.
Unfortunately, “Mother” is the weakest of the three stories because it mostly shows a dull conversation between the mother, Lilith and Timothea. This is a family who also doesn’t talk about whatever issues they have—at least not in this visit. And so, viewers can only speculate why Lilith is lying about Jeanette to Lilith’s mother. The “Mother” story is the least interesting of the three because it reveals very little about the characters by the time this story ends.
“Sister Brother”
“Sister Brother,” the third story in the movie, is the most sentimental and sweet-natured. It takes place in the French capital of Paris and shows twins Billy (played by Luka Sabbat) and Skye (played by Indya Moore) going to the apartment where their recently deceased mother used to live and sorting through her possessions. The conversations between Billy and Skye also start off with polite small talk, but their discussions end up going emotionally deeper than the conversations in “Father” and “Mother.”
Based on these conversations, the siblings grew up in a non-traditional family who allowed Billy and Skye to express themselves freely. The twins agree that they’re glad they didn’t grow up in a conventional household. It’s a “slice of life” story where not much happens except the siblings reminiscing about their past and talking about their current lives.
The favorite song of the twins’ mother was Classics IV’s 1967 hit “Spooky.” Annika Henderson’s cover version of “Spooky” is played in the beginning and end of “Father Mother Sister Brother,” like lovely book ends. The movie also has a throughline of scenes that feature skateboarders rushing past the main characters in each story.
The film’s cinematography by Frederick Elmes and Yorick Le Saux often features several overhead shots to draw attention to attractive locations or props. For example, in the “Mother” story, there are multiple “bird’s eye view” shots of the tea and pastries that are laid out on the table for the family gathering. The musical score by Jarmusch and Henderson is both whimsical and dreamy.
“Father Mother Sister Brother” is not the type of movie that is meant to overwhelm or dazzle viewers. The performances are good, but not outstanding. It’s an artsy “hangout” film where viewers get a brief glimpse into the lives of some unique characters and some of their family dynamics. “Father Mother Sister Brother” invites viewers to think about not just what’s said but what’s left unsaid, which is a lot more like real life than a movie that shows and tells viewers exactly what viewers should think.
MUBI will release “Father Mother Sister Brother” in select U.S. cinemas on December 24, 2025.
