NYFF with Abe: The Inspection

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“The Inspection,” coming to theaters on November 18th, is a powerful and passionate story of representation. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: She Said

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“She Said,” coming to theaters on November 18th, is a standard look at the industry-changing story of Harvey Weinstein. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Armageddon Time

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Armageddon Time,” coming to theaters on October 28th, is a deeply personal film from director James Gray. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Return to Seoul

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Return to Seoul,” coming soon to theaters, has a magnetic lead actress and character in its engaging adoption story. I reviewed the film for AwardsWatch - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Bones and All

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Bones and All,” which comes to theaters on November 18th, reunites director Luca Guadagnino with star Timothée Chalamet in a very unappealing context. I reviewed the film for ShockYa - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Till

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Till,” coming to theaters this Friday, is a powerful retelling of a horrific historic killing. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: White Noise

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“White Noise,” which arrives on Netflix on December 30th, is a wild film that's mostly worthwhile. I reviewed the film for ShockYa - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Tár

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Tár,” now playing in theaters, is a towering showcase for Cate Blanchett. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Walk Up

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Walk Up” makes impressive use of its dialogue and space. I reviewed the film for AwardsWatch - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Master Gardener

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Master Gardener,” coming soon to theaters, is the latest exploration of darkness and violence from Paul Schrader. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF with Abe: Aftersun

I’m excited to be back covering the New York Film Festival for the first time in a few years! I’ll share my reviews for other outlets throughout the festival.

“Aftersun,” coming to theaters October 21st, features formidable performances from stars Paul Mescal and Francesca Corio. I reviewed the film for CinemaDailyUS.com - head over there to read my review.

NYFF Spotlight: American Trial: The Eric Garner Story

I managed to catch two selections at this year’s 57th Annual New York Film Festival. Here’s the second.

American Trial: The Eric Garner Story
Directed by Roee Messinger
Special Events

On July 27, 2014, a black man in Staten Island named Eric Garner died while being arrested and subdued by multiple police officers. Video of the attempted arrest showed one of the officers, Daniel Pantaleo, placing Garner in a chokehold when he refused to be taken in, followed by Garner repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” as he was wrestled to the ground. His death fueled Black Lives Matter and other movements to advocate for change in the way people of color are disproportionately killed by law enforcement, yet Pantaleo was never put on trial for his role in Garner’s death. This film explores that idea by imagining what might have transpired.

This film, which can’t quite be called a documentary, casts real people in the roles that they did play or would have played. Garner’s wife and friend portray themselves, testifying about what they knew about the man and what they saw and experienced that day. Two lawyers on each side act out those parts, while a lawyer plays the role of the judge. As questions are asked and accountability is explored, only Pantaleo is portrayed by an actor, Anthony Altieri. What happened is tackled from every angle, eliciting passionate responses and objections from the lawyers and those brought to the stand to give their testimony and analysis.

This is an intriguing experiment, one that posits the questions that anyone who watched the video – which is most people – would want to ask. What’s most emphasized, however, is that this isn’t the police department being put on trial or accused of any particular crime, but rather this one officer who, according to the charges, may be guilty of manslaughter and strangulation. The legal specifics are noted again and again by the defense lawyers and the judge as they debate whether what the officer did should be considered a chokehold, a move that is prohibited by police code, and if his intent was reckless and disregarded the possible result that the man he was trying to subdue could die, since only those things could result in a guilty verdict.

This film will surely stir emotions for anyone watching, with repeated video footage shown and Garner’s widow, Esaw Snipes Garner, painfully recounting the loss of her husband and snapping at anyone who would dare to manipulate her words. The format in which this trial is presented is not particularly riveting, even if its content is worthwhile and interesting. To presume that there wouldn’t be anything sensational about this trial if it did indeed occur is unwise, but there is something to be said for trying to look at this how it would have happened, with participants bringing their own legal knowledge and opinions in to try to help create justice where it wasn’t found.

B

NYFF Spotlight: Motherless Brooklyn

I managed to catch two selections at this year’s 57th Annual New York Film Festival. Here’s the first.

Motherless Brooklyn
Directed by Edward Norton
Closing Night Selection

There is something distinctive about old-fashioned mysteries, capers involving shadowy villains and conflicted protagonists whose motivations to take them down may be less than entirely noble. Police officers, detectives, or private investigators are typically led down a rabbit hole as they follow the leads – and the leading lady – to a place where they are forced to decide whether to do the right thing or to serve their own best interests. There are variations, of course, and the strength of the characters and the storyline can make or break the experience of traveling this journey.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Willem Dafoe, and Edward Norton discuss the film
Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton) is a private investigator in 1950s New York City who works with Frank Minna (Bruce Willis). When he realizes that Frank is in over his head on a mysterious assignment, Lionel, who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome, must attempt to put together the pieces and determine what connects an ambitious aide (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) fighting discrimination in the city, a disturbed protestor (Willem Dafoe), and a powerful real estate mogul (Alec Baldwin). The undiagnosed condition he has often causes disruptive outbursts, but it also allows him to focus intently on the details and see things no one else can, setting him up as the only one capable of cracking this case.

Edward Norton discusses the film
This film is adapted from a 1999 novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem, which preserves its protagonist’s defining characteristics but takes considerable other liberties, primarily in setting its story in the 1950s, which Norton cites as a classic time period which enhances the feeling of the film. The costumes, set direction, and moody score by Daniel Pemberton certainly do their part in grounding the audience experience in this mystery, which also feels clunky and expected. Running nearly two and a half hours, this film often explores themes and styles for just a moment before cutting away to an entirely different aesthetic, indicating great potential but a muddled result.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Willem Dafoe discuss the film
Norton is an undeniably terrific (and often underrated) actor, and there’s no denying that he applies himself here in addition to serving as producer, writer, and director. Yet this performance doesn’t feel nearly as transformative or three-dimensional, akin to the surrounding story, which travels a predictable path without discovering anything new along the way. Willis is fun, Mbatha-Raw and Dafoe are good as always, and it’s hard to hear Baldwin speak without picturing Donald Trump, though the comparison is apt in many ways here. The crowded ensemble also includes Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Mann, Michael K. Williams, and Cherry Jones, yet another instance of certifiable talent present and put to only moderate effect. There’s simply nothing extraordinary about this film which could have been great.

B-

NYFF Spotlight: Roma

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 56th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 14th.

Roma
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Centerpiece Selection

There are a number of international directors whose careers have begun in their home countries before, as the phrase goes, “coming to Hollywood” and delivering more mainstream, and occasionally award-nominated, fare. Mexico native Alfonso Cuarón’s trajectory has been a bit different, with only the first and fourth of his seven feature films to date being in Spanish. He had his mainstream blockbuster, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” his follow-up genre hit, “Children of Men,” and the film that won him the Oscar for Best Director, “Gravity.” Now, with his eighth film, he is returning to his roots and to Mexico to tell the kind of story that for most directors comes at the beginning of their careers rather than at this point.

Yalitza Aparicio stars in the film
Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) works as a maid in 1970 in the home of a wealthy Mexico City family. The patriarch, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), spends most of his time at the office and traveling for work, and whatever moments he does have he devotes instead to selfish interests, which drives the matriarch, Sofia (Marina de Tavira), crazy as she struggles to be a doting mother for her three children. While Cleo may not keep the house in the cleanest condition, her influence on the children is clear, and she serves as a crucial part of this family unit.

Alfonso Cuarón discusses the film
This is not the kind of film that often gets made in America, one that doesn’t have a specific plot hook other than that it follows a group of people over the course of a year in their lives. Cuarón’s work to date has been extremely diverse, but he always demonstrates an equal commitment to characters and to background details. The decision to shoot the film in black-and-white is an exceptional one, and the cinematography - by Cuarón himself - is mesmerizing, highlighting the mundanity of much of what the characters go through and the sparkling exceptions to that rule. The way in which Antonio’s car barely fits in the small alley next to their home and must be repositioned several times every time he pulls in and drives right over a staggering amount of dog feces left by Cleo is just one of the stunning images that helps to define this focused film.

Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira discuss the film
First-time actress Aparicio, who came to the New York Film Festival screening with an interpreter and received a tremendous and lengthy round of applause from the audience, is so subtly and simply effective as Cleo, a young woman who has never had much time to think about herself or what she might want if her circumstances were different yet continues to soldier on as events and realities dictate. Tavira portrays another form of self-sacrifice, exasperated beyond belief but never once contemplating taking the road her husband has to abandon his family. It’s great to see such powerful female performances featured in this film, which shows that Cuarón has drawn upon his more mainstream projects to create a deeply personal and fully captivating product.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 56th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 14th.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen
Main Slate

The Coen Brothers have what some might call a unique touch. Their films are often uproariously funny, but usually also involve murder and mayhem. “No Country for Old Men” and “Fargo” are probably their biggest successes, though they’ve had other Best Picture Oscar nominees over the years. Their stories – and their characters – are peculiar, and almost always have a penchant for long-winded speeches that convey an intellect far beyond what might be expected. Not every effort by this duo is a success, and aiming too broadly for either comedy or drama without the knowledge of where to meet in the middle can produce an uneven result.

Tim Blake Nelson stars in the film
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is merely the first chapter of this six-part collection of unconnected stories. Tim Blake Nelson is a showy, singing cowboy in the first, James Franco is an unlucky robber in the second, Liam Neeson is a traveling entertainer in the third, Tom Waits is a prospector looking for gold in the fourth, Zoe Kazan is a young maiden in search of a better life in the fifth, and Tyne Daly is one of a few nervous passengers in a stagecoach in the sixth. Other well-known actors and breakout newcomers accompany them and appear in various roles throughout this assembly of predictably outlandish tales.

The Coen Brothers discuss the film
The Coen Brothers have never been afraid to try something new, and they expressed at the press conference at the New York Film Festival that they didn’t ever think they’d be able to get this project made. While it is an impressive undertaking emboldened by great costuming and art direction, it suffers from being disjointed and, at times, purposeless. The bigger issue is that its first segment is so spectacular and entertaining that everything that comes after can’t possibly compare. The other five are also more serious and unpleasant in nature, which the Coen Brothers have done well in the past but doesn’t work too well here, especially in the film’s third road show act segment.

Bill Heck, Tim Blake Nelson, Zoe Kazan, and the Coen Brothers discuss the film
Nelson, who plays the film’s title character, is the undeniable star of this film, and it’s a tremendous, hilarious performance that sets the film off to a superb start. In the film’s penultimate segment, Kazan, Bill Heck, and Grainger Hines enhance their material considerably with involved and engaging turns. The smallest role that proves truly unforgettable features the reliable Stephen Root as a bank teller not about to be robbed again in what serves as the film’s funniest moment aside from the entirety of its opening act. Whether this film needed to exist as it is with its parts together is up for debate, since the quality of its first segment really overshadows and dwarfs the far less worthwhile rest.

B-

NYFF Spotlight: High Life

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 56th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 14th.

High Life
Directed by Claire Denis
Main Slate

Many classic films set in outer space can be easily identified by their directors, who left an indelible stylistic mark on their work that has come to define or at the very least inform their careers. Stanley Kubrick made “2001: A Space Odyssey,” George Lucas helmed “Star Wars,” Ridley Scott guided “Alien,” and James Cameron steered “Aliens.” More recently, established filmmakers not known for science fiction or extraterrestrial efforts have traveled to cinematic space, with Alfonso Cuaron as one prominent example taking home an Oscar for “Gravity.” Now, a director whose previous work has definitely been set firmly on Earth is traveling to new heights for an inarguably unique vision of what space could look like through her eyes.

Monte (Robert Pattinson) is a death row inmate who has accepted an innovative sentence, going into space to try to harness the power of a black hole. Aboard his quiet ship, he spends his days working on repairs and taking care of a baby before submitting nightly reports to refresh his life support. Through flashbacks, the full picture of his mission is revealed, with a convicted doctor (Juliette Binoche) conducting a side project of attempting to impregnate the female prisoners. Trapped together in a small space with no knowledge of if they’ll ever make it home, the group of violent criminals predictably begins to experience cabin fever before all hell breaks loose.

Listed on IMDB under adventure/drama/horror, this film is probably best described as a science-fiction psychological thriller. It appears to take some inspiration from the template of “Alien,” with internal strife and discord serving as just as much a catalyst for the doom as the very threatening possibility of death whenever a black hole nears. Starting with Monte operating the ship by himself while tending to an inexplicably present infant only increases the melancholy, draining feeling that this trip has gone horribly wrong. No fate that can befall the passengers of this ship will be good, but watching as past and present play out simultaneously is a tense and troubling experience.

Director Claire Denis and star Robert Pattison discuss the film at a press conference
Denis, whose extraordinarily different “Let the Sun Shine In” screened at last year’s New York Film Festival, makes a recognizable imprint on this film, focusing most on the characters and their coming undone. She also says that there is no way that people in could speak French, her straightforward explanation for why the film is in English rather than her native language. The presence of a “sex room” aboard the ship designed to help the prisoners alleviate some of their tension is a very peculiar addition that doesn’t feel as strange as it should thanks to Denis’ incorporation of it, and Binoche in particular helps to normalize it with her magnetic and haunting performance. Pattinson, who has transformed himself into a more serious actor over the past few years following an early tween “Twilight” craze, serves as a stable lead, one who anchors a story far out of Monte’s control with a frank acceptance of his situation. This film unapologetically frames and follows its own narrative to great effect, on its own individual, unsettling course the whole time.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: The Favourite

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 56th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 14th.

The Favourite
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Opening Night Selection

The cast and crew discuss the film
There are many fascinating stories from history just waiting to be adapted into a juicy book, enthralling film, or engaging television series. In many cases, characters and entire plotlines are embellished or created from scratch due in large part to the fact that not every moment is thoroughly or accurately documented, especially when the subject dates back many years. Additionally, the way that people speak to each other and interact can be altered to add to the creativity or entertainment value as guided by the people behind the camera telling the story through the actors playing it out on screen.

Olivia Colman and Emma Stone discuss the film
In the late seventeenth century, Anne (Olivia Colman) is Queen of Great Britain. Much of her decision-making is advised and even directed by Sarah (Rachel Weisz), the Duchess of Marlborough, for whom she harbors considerable affection. The arrival of Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) initially presents an opportunity for Sarah to keep Anne’s need for attention at bay, but once Abigail, whose station in life has been greatly reduced due to past events, sees the position she is in, she becomes a fierce rival for Sarah.

Director Yorgos Lanthimos and screenwriter Tony McNamara discuss the film
These characters are all real, and the intimacy Anne shared with both Sarah and Abigail is relatively well-documented. As showcased here, however, all three are capable of spitting out extraordinary dialogue that shows just how well-suited they are to their surroundings, far more intelligent than all the men around them and more than ready to go toe-to-toe with one another. It’s a marvelous tale marking the third English-language film from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, who hands the screenwriting reins to the very capable Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis. It’s also far more unsettling than “Dogtooth,” “The Lobster,” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” brilliantly transposing his knack for dark humor to this regal, historical setting for a delightfully entertaining trip.

Joe Alwyn and Nicholas Hoult discuss the film
All three women in this film are terrific, and the only question come Oscar time will be which categories to place them in since they all have considerable screen time. Colman, who played one queen in “Hyde Park on Hudson” and will soon take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II on “The Crown,” makes Anne into a hilarious presence, reacting purposefully and acutely to everything that goes on around her. Stone, donning a convincing English accent, is considerably more cutthroat than her usual sympathetic characters and gives Abigail a formidable energy. Weisz is quick and unforgiving, and hers may well be the most superb of these three excellent turns. Nicholas Hoult stands out among the male cast for his portrayal of Robert Harley, the leader of the government opposition, who seeks to curry whatever favor he can through less than noble means. The costumes by famed designer Sandy Powell and the wide-lens cinematography by Robbie Ryan help complete this extremely engaging and worthwhile experience, and though its final scene is the weakest point of the film, everything that leads up to it and extraordinary and captivating.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: Wonder Wheel

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 55th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 15th.

Wonder Wheel
Directed by Woody Allen
NYFF Closing Night

Woody Allen makes a lot of movies. Since his directorial debut in 1966, four-time Oscar winner Allen has churned out an average of a film almost every year. Recently, he’s been met with success less and less frequently, releasing just three hits – “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Blue Jasmine” - in the past decade. There are certain staples in his films, beginning with a neurotic lead character whose perception of the world around them isn’t entirely accurate, and he spends more time in his native New York than anything else. His latest doesn’t always feel like an Allen production, but his mark is all over it.

Ginny (Kate Winslet) leads a less-than-exciting life as a waitress on Coney Island in the 1950s, married to alcoholic carousel operator Humpty (James Belushi) and raising a budding arsonist son from her first marriage. When Humpty’s adult daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) shows up, on the run from her mobster husband, Ginny finds any aspirations for greater happiness she had put on hold, with her husband investing more in his daughter’s career rehabilitation. Ginny’s affair with lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake) serves as her only outlet, something she clings to for hopes of a better and more fulfilling life.

There’s no denying the instantly recognizable newer Allen archetype in Ginny, who constantly has a headache that never seems to go away and who makes grand speeches against things she didn’t like but never actually accepts productive suggested solutions. She’s most reminiscent of a more muted version of Cate Blanchett’s character from “Blue Jasmine,” though she advocates far less for herself and only occasionally lets those around her feel her true wrath since most of them are busy being angry enough on their own. The Coney Island setting makes sense for the “Annie Hall” auteur who claimed to have been brought up under a rollercoaster, and setting the film in the 1950s is a logical move given his recent forays into the past.

This marks the first collaboration for the four credited stars of this film with Allen, and each of them seems like a good fit to work with him. Belushi takes a backseat to Winslet since this is a more female-driven story, and Winslet delivers a fiercely committed performance (with one memorable scene in particular sure to be discussed) sure to drum up Oscar buzz, though it’s far from her best role. Temple is, as usual, wonderful, and it’s great to see making strong career decisions. Timberlake continues to diversify his acting choices, and he fits in just fine here, both with the script and the time period. As a film, there aren’t nearly enough instantly-classic insights delivered by any of the characters, and the story doesn’t resonate. This is far from Allen’s strongest film, offering a few funny lines but hardly a pleasant experience aside from that not removed enough to be considered an effective drama but instead an uneven effort.

B-

NYFF Spotlight: Mudbound

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 55th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 15th.

Mudbound
Directed by Dee Rees
NYFF Screenings

Race in America is and has always been a hot topic. The emancipation of the slaves in 1863 left two distinctly separate populations, and it took an entire century for desegregation and voting rights to be put into place. There are still many incidents of rampant racism that happen on a regular basis in the United States. That unfortunate reality makes a story about a time of extreme inequality that somehow seemed normal all the more relevant and important, and that’s just what director Dee Rees brings to the forefront in her adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s 2008 novel.

Mulligan stars in the film
Laura (Carey Mulligan) meets Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke) and the two begin a life together in the 1940s. Laura enjoys domestic life, but when Henry suddenly uproots them to move with his father (Jonathan Banks) to a rural Mississippi farm, Laura must adjust to a far more isolating situation. Hap (Rob Morgan) and Florence (Mary J. Blige) raise their family on the outskirts of Henry’s property, working in the fields and on the farm for the McAllans. When World War II ends, Henry’s brother Jamie (Garrett Hedlund) and Hap’s son Ronsel (Jason Mitchell) both return, bringing with them a shared experience that transcends the color of their skin, building a friendship that stands in stark contrast to their far less accepting family and neighbors.

Rees, Blige, Hedlund, Mitchell, Mulligan, Clarke, and Morgan discuss the film
At a press conference for the film, Rees explains that she wanted this to be “an old-fashioned film like they don’t make anymore,” where the audience can get invested in each character and the plot can be secondary. During filming, they worked in actual sharecroppers’ cabins, and the camera style was key to each of the characters and how they were photographed based on their relationships. Morgan describes the opportunity to be a part of this telling of history since, as he says, “we often see black people as slaves or during the civil rights era – we don’t really see the sharecropping era when they’re not quite free.” Rees speaks specifically of incorporating the n-word into the language, in a way that sounded normal and unremarkable in everyday conversation, as the white actors hated saying it and the black actors hated hearing it. Rees, who emphasizes having many women behind the camera, believes that “we can’t begin to tackle our past until we look at our personal histories. We’re not separate from our past; we are all actors in what we’re creating.”

Hedlund and Mitchell star in the film
This film is a testament to that notion, telling a story of intersecting personalities who are very much products of the time and space in which they live. The cast is strong, with Mitchell as the standout for his portrayal of a soldier who saw his skin color ignored and even loved in Europe only to return home to find it just as horrifically backward as he left it. Each actor is afforded the opportunity to shine and truly get to know their characters, who do, as Rees suggests, steer the story, which is engaging and uncomfortable, and at times extremely disturbing due to its showcase of the horrific violence exacted by white people and uncondemned by the general public. Rees has crafted a film that feels important and which shines a light on a not-too-distant collective memory that has largely been repressed.

B+

NYFF Spotlight: Wonderstruck

I’m thrilled to be covering a number of selections from the 55th Annual New York Film Festival, which takes place September 28th-October 15th.

Wonderstruck
Directed by Todd Haynes
NYFF Centerpiece

Todd Haynes is a direct known for vivid, perceptive films that offer social commentary and usually look pretty great in the process. His three most well-known and recent films are “Carol,” “I’m Not There,” and “Far From Heaven,” all of which feature unconventional adult relationships and are set in the past. For his latest project, Haynes ditches the adult themes to make a film about and, in large part, for children. “Wonderstruck” tells an inventive, invigorating story of two children in different periods, both coping with a lack of hearing and searching for answers.

In 1977, Ben (Oakes Fegley) has just lost his mother (Michelle Williams) in a car accident, and after he loses his hearing when the phone he is holding is struck by lightning, he sets out on a bus from Minnesota to New York City with the hopes of finding the father that his mother repeatedly said she’d one day tell him about. In 1927, Rose (Millicent Simmonds), who is deaf, is less than eager to learn how to communicate in a conventional way and flees the Hoboken home she shares with her father (James Urbaniak) to find her actress mother (Julianne Moore) and explore New York City.

At a press conference for the film, Haynes discusses making this film for “an audience I never really address” and how it made him think of how much movies meant to him as a young person. He remembers that there were movies beyond his reach, something he believes is important to show kids to expose them to new and potentially incomprehensible ideas. This film deals a lot with museums and the way in which they seem infinitely larger to those of a young age, including Ben’s new friend Jamie (Jaden Michael), who has a secret hideout deep within the American Museum of Natural History that he shows Ben. Haynes acknowledges that it is a tribute to New York, which makes its selection as the centerpiece for the New York Film Festival all the more meaningful, and uses the reflection of space and time in the museums of New York to its compelling advantage.

The child actors in this film are nothing short of fantastic, and it’s very entertaining to hear them talk about how they acclimated to the roles. Michael notes his previous work on a TV show set in the 1970s, “The Get Down,” but says that playing a gangster is very different, and listening to music of the times helped him get into character. Simmonds, who is actually deaf, signed that she had to pretend not to know sign language, which provided its own challenges and opportunities. Joined by Moore and Tom Noonan, this ensemble proves to be a winning combination. While it seems to lack a clear direction during its first act, it finishes extremely strongly, and should leave viewers satisfied. Haynes’ new film may be free of passionate same-sex relationships, but this film does have a strong dramatic core emphasizing youth, family, and friendships.

B+