Late Fame [NYFF 2025]
Studio:
Director: Kent Jones
Sep 28, 2025
Kent Jones’ sophomore function, Late Fame, couldn’t have arrived at a greater time. That is the yr of the performative male. The tote bag–donning, matcha-drinking, bohemian demographic is the newest dialogue level within the ever-expanding, always-tiring world of on-line discourse. Whereas the youthful characters in Jones’ movie might not match this definition completely—swap out Sally Rooney novels for William Carlos Williams poems—they usually act as embodiments of the performative male advanced (although they’d scoff on the concept of being grouped with up to date literature customers).
For ex-poet and present Submit Workplace employee Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), it doesn’t matter how obnoxious the group could also be: they’re enthusiastic about his work. Throughout the movie’s first 5 minutes, we be taught nearly every part we have to find out about Ed. His life is straightforward, and he has a couple of shut mates at a bar he frequents (although he doesn’t drink). Strolling residence to his West Village condominium one night time, he’s stopped on the road by Meyers (Edmund Donovan), a younger author and aspiring poet. Meyers is totally obsessive about Ed—notably with Approach Previous Go, Ed’s e-book of poems that was revealed within the Seventies earlier than shortly fading into obscurity.
Ed’s preliminary shock, confusion, and apprehension shortly flip to appreciation as he more and more interacts with Meyers. Meyers introduces Ed to his mates, a younger cohort of writers who meet on the similar café and complain about the identical content-creation-and-consumption issues that plague New York Metropolis (and the world). Their tendencies are bohemian; they solely refer to 1 one other by their final names, as in the event that they have been already well-known within the literary world. The group’s outlier is Gloria (Greta Lee), identified for her showwoman aptitude and mysterious previous (she prefers it that means, as a personality notes early within the movie).
Watching Late Fame nearly completely displays Ed’s experiences within the movie. At first, every part is bursting with life. Regardless of all of the group’s annoying tendencies—or maybe due to them—the movie’s opening act is riotously humorous and charming. Reveals that may appear unsurprising—everybody within the group comes from cash, and their dad and mom purchased their residences as a result of “the funding makes it cheaper than staying in a school dorm”—are considerate and well-executed. You may really feel Ed wanting previous the performativity, pretentiousness, and phoniness of all of it; he’s simply excited to see his artwork’s impact on individuals, all these years later.
Because the movie goes on, that propulsive power begins to put on off. Within the second half, Samy Burch’s script dives deeper into the advanced emotional psyches of those characters. Issues by no means actually come collectively, although, maybe on account of the movie’s breezy tone and delicate storytelling method. When it’s lastly time to get severe—evident in a very intense confrontation between Ed and Gloria late within the movie—the tonal shift feels too underdeveloped and underaddressed to make a long-lasting influence. Maybe the movie would work higher if it have been a bit longer than 96 minutes, permitting extra time to flesh out these characters or to remain longer with those who matter most.
Regardless of these shortcomings, Late Fame is inherently watchable and options two dynamite performances. Dafoe is nice, as all the time. The movie’s true shock is Lee. Initially getting into the movie with a magnetic and considerably confounding presence, she navigates her character’s advanced and sometimes understated feelings with exceptional gusto and ease. In consequence, she steals virtually each scene she’s in.
Writer score: 5/10
