Jim Jarmusch’s Venice Golden Lion-winning “anti-action” comedy navigates the sometimes tender, sometimes awkward interactions between the bohemian generation and their adult children. This triptych features a powerhouse cast of stars including Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat.
In the US, two well-heeled city siblings in their 40s travel upstate to visit their widower father. Their well-meaning concerns about his well-being occasion a gentle comedy of awkward turns of phrases and, as it turns out, complete miscalculation of their scruffy father’s existence. In Ireland, a beautifully laid-out afternoon tea is set by a glamorous mother for her visiting daughters. Here the tables are turned: she is the one probing their lives, the reality of which they keep from her, to a charmingly droll effect. And in France, two siblings come together following the sudden death of their parents in a plane crash. With grace and affection they parse the transatlantic lives of their parents, as found documents and artefacts in their now-empty Parisian flat reveal identities and existences they knew nothing of.
With his usual wit and cool style, Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive, IFFR 2014) offers a tenderly considerate observation of human relations across the generations. The film’s simple premise foregrounds the humour in repetitions, colour coordinations and archaic wordplay, to mesmerising effect, like a slowly blooming flower.
– Michelle Carey
Film details
Country of production
USA
Year
2025
Festival edition
IFFR 2026
Length
110'
Medium/Format
-
Language
English
Premiere status
Dutch Premiere
Principal cast
Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene
Director
Jim Jarmusch
Producer
Carter Logan, Joshua Astrachan, Atilla Salih Yücer, Charles Gillibert, Richard Bolger