Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A bored, retired rock star living in Ireland sets out to find his dead father's tormentor, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.
This Must Be the Place is a genuinely singular film — Paolo Sorrentino directing Sean Penn as a melancholic, Robert Smith-esque rock star embarking on a Holocaust-revenge road trip across America is an almost absurdly distinctive premise executed with real auteur conviction. Penn's performance is extraordinary: fully committed, mannered yet oddly moving, one of his most daring turns. Sorrentino's visual language is characteristically lush and painterly, with wide American landscapes contrasting beautifully against Penn's gothic figure — the cinematography is a genuine standout. Novelty is high because the film is utterly unlike anything else: a mash of Wim Wenders road movie, quirky indie character study, and Holocaust drama filtered through Sorrentino's operatic European sensibility. The plot, however, is somewhat loose and episodic — the picaresque structure works atmospherically but leaves narrative threads underdeveloped and tonal whiplash underserved. The ending feels anticlimactic; the confrontation with the ex-Nazi resolves with a quiet, slightly deflating gesture that some will read as profound restraint and others as a missed dramatic opportunity, landing below the film's visual and performative ambitions.