New York Film Festival 2025-Pt.2
As one of the few major film festivals not motivated by voting panels and awards, but definitely drawing from those that do for much of its selections, the New York Film Festival (NYFF) prides itself on being small and carefully curated. While this year’s festival proved to be a less than stellar year, it did have a few under-the-radar gems as well as commercial heavyweights worth noting and looking out for. Below is a continuation of my selection of the “best of,” “best forgotten” and somewhere in between from NYFF63 (alphabetical order)
Father Mother Sister Brother – Writer-director Jim Jarmusch is a staple of the New York film community and an iconoclast of indie film industry. Known and beloved for quirky, character-driven movies such as “Stranger Than Paradise,” “Down by Law” and “Ghost Dog”. His latest movie, “Father Mother Sister Brother,” which had its North American debut at NYFF, is keeping in that same tradition, although not in the same league as many of his previous fan favorites. Constructed as a triptych, with each chapter focusing on either the darker, sadder and realistic familial relations.
The first takes place in the New Jersey countryside and stars Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik as siblings driving for a long overdue visit with their father, played by Tom Waits. For the most part they see in their dad and his surroundings what they expect, maybe worse- a cluttered old house, a broken down car, and an uninteresting, dithering old man that usually disappoints. After an brief visit of stilted exchanges, lots of silences, and a few pleasantries and affection, the visit ends as awkwardly as it began. Soon after the siblings leave, the audience sees a side of dad that his kids clearly don’t. “Was that a real Rolex dad was wearing?” “How could it be?” “He’s poor and always needing financial assistance.” No, it can’t be, the two conclude when driving back.
The next chapter features sisters Lilith and Timothea (Vicky Krieps and Cate Blanchett) who convene for their annual tea with their mother (Charlotte Rampling) in Dublin. For this one, Lilith is the one with secrets and like with chapter one, it’s obvious and odd that the family members reunite infrequently. Last but not least and definitely with little to no laughs is the final chapter which reunites twins Skye and Billy (Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat) in Paris as they go through their recently deceased parents’ apartment. All three sections have themes and elements that that visually and narratively knit the stories together- family, water, watches, and lots of car driving. Despite its detractors of awkward dialogue and lagging pacing, as a whole the film is intimate, quiet and authentic.
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Writer: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, India Moore
Countries: United States, Italy, France, Ireland, Germany
Language: English
MPAA rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 50m
Production companies: Animal Kingdom, CG Cinema
It Was Just an Accident (Paula’s Pick) – Here’s a great example of a perfectly imperfect film imbued with cleverness, uniqueness, charm and poignancy delivered in an unexpected way. This the latest from renowned and brave Iranian filmmaker Afar Panahi who several years ago was banned from making movies by the government. As a result and ever since the ban, he has taken personal and political risk in forging ahead creating art and telling relevant stories. “It Was Just an Accident” is no exception to he and his cast and crew’s artistic stance and putting out this relevant story of moral dilemma and revenge.
Randomly in the middle of one fateful nigh, mechanic, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) believes he has reencountered his torturer, Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), from years ago while he was under government detainment. Until he can get confirmation of the alleged tortuer’s identity, Vahid decides to kidnap and gag Eghbal, stuffing him into a box in the back of his van. He then seeks out and is referred to a few individuals who too had been in the same prison and may be able to successfully tell him whether or not this is the monster from their past and whose actions continue to haunt their dreams. It is in the enlisting of their help, with Eghbal in tow, that weird and wacky series of events are unleashed. Thought this dark comedy thriller, all involved, including a bride and groom and their photographer, feel an unquenchable thirst for answers and for revenge. Along the way, they are challenged with moral complexities of revenge murder and the risks involved for themselves if they let their captive go.
There are times through the film, where the pacing is uneven and a couple scenes are repetitive and over-written, but never to the point of losing the audience or detracting from it’s overall creative brilliance. Throughout, Panama deftly balances an intriguing sense of danger, with unexpected and welcome humor, and the cherry on top is the uproarious cast of characters in the hands of a bodacious ensemble of actors.
Director: Jafar Panahi
Writer: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshai, Ebrahim Azizi
Country: Iran, France
Languages: Persian, English
MPAA rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 45m
Production companies: Jafar Panahi Films, Les Films Pelleas
Sentimental Value (Paula’s Pick) – This is a rare example of the best of independent filmmaking- a Neon Film- and everything a small film should be, a pitch perfect, intimate and a richly layered story of family, loss and how creativity can heal and bond people. In the same way that “Past Lives” took us by surprise and captured hearts, garnering bigger than expected word-of-mouth viewers and across-the-board critical acclaim, so too will “Sentimental Value.” This is Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his beloved and acclaimed “The Worst Person in the World” (2021). For this, he recasts Renate Reinsve in the lead. She goes seamlessly from her role as an indecisive, easily love struck 20-something year old single in “Worst Person” to a very different role in “Sentimental.”
For the latter she portrays Nora Borg, an acclaimed stage actress on the verge of personal/mental crisis after the death of her mother. She and her sister confront long suppressed feelings of loss when their film director father, Gustav, played seamlessly and wonderfully by Stellan Skarsgard, returns home with his new script written explicitly for Nora in hopes of forging some sort of father-daughter reconciliation. To great disappointment, she declines. In this,Trier maintains and excels with his tradition of harkening to the French New Wave masters through unconventional film techniques and tone, while also applying his trademark of rich storytelling style, deftly blending drama with occasional touches of humor.
Director: Joachim Trier
Writers: Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt
Stars: Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinste, Elle Fanning
Country: Norway, Germany, Denmark
Language: Norwegian, English
MPAA rating: R
Runtime 2h 13m
Production company: Mer Film, Eye Eye Pictures
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere– In this music memoir of sorts, and actually adapted from literary chronicles, director Scott Cooper journeys through a pivotal personal and creative period for rock icon Bruce Springsteen. Set in the early 80s when Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) was in the early days of fame. As his star was rising, the record label was eager to secure their investment continued on a path of fame and financial success, but Bruce was conflicted. He was navigating the delicate balance between his newly acquired popularity and the professional pressure that came with it, and his commitment to his art.
The label wanted him to focus on what would become the “Born to Run” album, while his heart was in a passion album project called “Nebraska.” To make matters more complex, at the intersection of art and commerce, Springsteen was battling personal and psychological demons related to past family dynamics, especially concerning his father who had been abusive towards him and his mother. Helping him traverse this painful and challenging period was his friend and manager-producer Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), who admitted to hitting a wall as far as the level of support he could offer. As a result, he encouraged Bruce to continue on the “Nebraska” album, take a break from New Jersey to visit his parents in Los Angeles, and connected him to a therapist. Eventually, it all resulted in two legendary albums and an endearing career of one of our most beloved musicians later to be known as “the boss.”
What stands out for “Deliver Me From Nowhere” and worth the price of admission are the tour-de-force performances by White and Strong.
Director: Scott Cooper
Writers: Scott Cooper, Warren Zanes
Stars: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong
Country: United States
Language: English
MPAA rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2h
Production companies: Bluegrass Films, Gotham Group
Festival Buzz- Even for critics and other industry folks that get separate screenings prior to the festival, there are lines. While in the lines waiting for entry, there’s a lot of chatting about what was seen, what was missed; what was liked and loved as well as tolerated and hated. Here’s what I picked up while on line regarding films I was unable to see and review:
“The Fence” (Claire Denis/France) – A universal big thumbs down. Skip it.
“Nouvelle Vague” (Richard Linklater) – So enjoyable, beautifully shot.
“A Private Life (Rebecca Zlotowski/France) – Mediocre
“Resurrection” (Bi Gan/ China) – Split down the middle between love and okay
“The Secret Agent” ( Kleber Mendonca Filho/Brazil) – Love it. A must see.
All the films listed above and many more have filmmaker and cast panel events. These Q&A sessions are in-person and free throughout the festival, and accessible for free forever on the Film Lincoln Center YouTube channel. Please be mindful when accessing, that these events are post the film screening, so possible spoilers are throughout the conversations.
