Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Three years after his wife, acclaimed photographer Isabelle Reed, dies in a car crash, Gene keeps everyday life going with his shy teenage son, Conrad. A planned exhibition of Isabelle’s photographs prompts Gene's older son, Jonah, to return to the house he grew up in - and for the first time in a very long time, the father and the two brothers are living under the same roof.
Joachim Trier's English-language debut is a quietly observed family drama with strong visual craft — fragmented timelines, interior monologues, and dream sequences give it a distinctive European art-house texture. The cinematography is genuinely exceptional, with Kasper Tuxen's compositions lending emotional weight to suburban spaces. The acting ensemble (Eisenberg, Byrne, Watts, Druid) is solid if uneven, with Devin Druid's introverted Conrad as the standout. The plot meanders in ways that feel intentional but occasionally frustrating, and the ending dissipates rather than resolves — the film struggles to land the emotional accumulation it builds. Novelty is above average due to Trier's distinctive narrative voice, though the grief-and-family-secrets premise is familiar territory.