- Year: 2026
- Rating: ★★★
- Reviewed: October 22, 2026
“We don’t need your permission.”
“No one can know what goes on in a family.”
“Aren’t we all hard to know?”
“I just hope you’re not disappointed in the end.”
“Am I on trial for my beliefs?”
Meh, it’s fjine
It’s undeniably playing with interesting ideas but the execution almost makes it seem like the film is losing interest in its own points. We don’t see enough of the family to care about their separation. The kids are not that compelling on screen and the beats meant to make them resonate feel a bit undercooked. Centering their fates as the driver of emotional conflict felt ironically like the reality distortion done by Child Protective Services in the movie.
There are a few effective moments during the trial scenes and there is good work throughout from
Renate Reinsve and a nearly unrecognizable Sebastian Stan. Their performances just happen to be housed in a movie that’s 146 minutes long when it really needed 100 at most. Whenever it sticks the landing with a plot or character moment, it then proceeds to reiterate what made that moment work to the point of dilution. I can actually see how the muted treatment of all these tensions to highlight deeper societal undercurrents may have been the intention here. It just isn’t very cinematic.
Originally posted on Letterboxd