Festival season is upon us once more! I was lucky enough to head down to Lincoln Center for the first couple days of NYFF press screenings. Some early thoughts below!
MIROIRS NO. 3 (dir. Christian Petzold)
Christian Petzold’s latest features many of his recurring themes – mistaken identity, grief, rebirth, haunting piano performances – all in a clipped 86-minute runtime. After a shocking accident, a young woman (Paula Beer) declines to return to her normal life, instead seeking shelter with a somewhat odd family she has just met. Much goes unspoken, though Laura starts to piece together the drama she’s unknowingly walked into. How did things get this way? What do this woman’s husband and son think of her? There’s an air of unreality to the film, making it feel more like a fable than a down to earth character exploration. Is Laura walking into the witch’s gingerbread house like Hansel and Gretel? Will she be lost in the woods forever? Petzold ruminates on this while giving us beautiful moments of levity.
Miroirs No. 3 will open in early 2026 from 1-2 Cinema.
THE MASTERMIND (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Something of an ironic title, no? Reichardt is no stranger to down-on-their-luck protagonists, and Josh O’Connor is no different in this Framingham-based (found the local angle!) ‘70s throwback heist. He’s carving out a little niche as an art thief, but he’s a far less interesting protagonist here compared to La Chimera. JB has one plan – steal a few paintings from the Framingham Art Museum – and no concept of how to deal with the aftermath or what it may do to his family, including his long-suffering wife Terri (Alana Haim). It could be considered subversive for a heist film to get the actual theft over with in the first act, then just have our protagonist slowly remove himself from society in order to escape punishment, but in practice it’s quite grueling. Perhaps a second viewing would help after knowing where this all leads, but it could be hard to spend this much time with such a pigheaded guy. Fabulous score.
The Mastermind opens October 17th from MUBI.
LATE FAME (dir. Kent Jones)
An old man (Willem Dafoe) suddenly finds himself with an adoring crowd of “intellectuals” obsessed with a book of poetry he published in 1979. He’s thrown into a new world of NYC writers far different from the one he knew long ago, happy to be included but totally divorced from his creative process. Critic-turned-director Kent Jones carves out a wonderful character study for Dafoe to embody, allowing him to work with his gentler side on the streets of New York. Though of course Dafoe and Greta Lee are the stars of the show, I was really taken with Edmund Donovan, who I’d never seen before. If he couldn’t imbue his character with that desperate need for approval, self-assuredness, and blowhardiness, everything after would fall flat. His character’s desperation to ‘make something of his craft’ ties the film together.
Late Fame opens next year – exact date TBD.
NO OTHER CHOICE (dir. Park Chan-wook)
Quite fun to watch PCW lean into the black comedy of much of his oeuvre, giving us a film with a lead character so pathetic he can hardly sit for a job interview without ruining his own life. The hooky premise – what if you ensured you got a new job by killing the other people interviewing? – is almost immediately turned on its head as Yoo Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) struggles to even stalk one of his possible victims. The surreality of the family home, like a snowglobe fantasy outside of time, preps the viewer for the zaniness of the rest of the film, but maybe not for the sudden acts of shocking violence )though the most painful act may be the one our protagonist inflicts upon himself). The deeper into the film, the more camera placements, transitions, split diopters, and superimpositions PCW throws at us. No Other Choice traffics in desperation, one of the rare films to engage with “modern life” and “phones” without feeling out of step with reality.
No Other Choice opens this winter from Neon.
PETER HUJAR’S DAY (dir. Ira Sachs)
A remarkable experiment in form, Peter Hujar’s Day is exactly what is promised in the opening title cards. This is a dramatic interpretation of Linda Rosenkrantz’s interview with her dear friend, the photographer Peter Hujar, as he recounts his experiences on the previous day. Her initial plan was to collect multiple days from different artists, but she only ever got Hujar’s – happens to us all! Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall take on the roles of Peter and Linda, turning what could feel like recitation into a beautifully intimate conversation between dear friends. The constant namedropping of ‘70s NYC art elites is quite endearing and haughty, painting an entire world operating just outside of Linda’s apartment that we’ll never see. Few films could make a simple change in location or lighting so impactful. No fuss, no frills, just two incredible actors painting a portrait of a time long gone.
Peter Hujar’s Day opens 11/7 from Janus Films.
THE SECRET AGENT (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s new film has far more in common with his documentary Pictures of Ghosts than the ultraviolet and propulsive Bacurau. The Wagner Moura-starring period piece is fascinated with the history of Recife and how its population fared under dictatorship when Mendonça Filho was growing up. Marcelo (Moura) is just trying to survive for his son while being pursued by relentless mercenaries. Though there are tense dramatic sequences where Marcelo must think quickly to save his own life, much of the film concerns itself with the group of resistance fighters living together under the roof of an unforgettable old woman and her two-faced cat. The fantastical elements blend remarkably well with the grittiness of spycraft, drawing the audience deeper into the universe within Recife. It’s a far stranger film than the simple title may suggest, and it’s all the better for it.
The Secret Agent opens 11/26 from Neon.
