movie review i'll find you

‘I’ll Find You’ Film Review: Martha Coolidge Directs a Visually Lush WWII Romance

This old-school love story is way more interested in relationships than historical tragedy

Viewers will probably know whether “I’ll Find You” is of interest just from hearing one typical line of dialogue: “No matter what happens,” our handsome Catholic hero promises his beloved Jewish girlfriend when the Nazis invade Poland, ‘We’ll always be together.’”

It’s not much of a spoiler to say that this World War II drama is also an unabashedly old-fashioned romance. But it’s nice to be able to add that — thanks to the expertise of director Martha Coolidge — it’s a particularly polished one.

Violinists Rachel Rubin (Adelaide Clemens, “The Great Gatsby”) and Robert Pulaski (Leo Suter, “Vikings: Valhalla”) meet as children, while attending a prestigious music school in Lodz run by Lena (Connie Nielsen). (The kids are played in flashback, and with great charm, by Ursula Parker and Sebastian Croft.)

In time-honored tradition, they see each other as competitors and spend all their time sparring until they finally realize how much they have in common. They are inseparable for years, until Robert leaves to study opera in Italy, and Rachel is pushed, by her parents, into marrying the more suitable David (Jacob Ifan, “A Discovery of Witches”).

When Robert returns in 1939, Rachel realizes how much she still loves him, despite the fact that her whole family is preparing to join David’s in Switzerland. Tragically, the Nazis arrive just hours before the two can make their escape.

This leaves Robert distraught and alone, attempting to live up to the movie’s title. His strategies include joining the resistance, apprenticing to an opera star (Stellan Skarsgård) with connections to Nazis, and even performing at a concentration camp in hopes of locating Rachel.

Suter, in his first major movie role, is unable to find hidden depths in a blandly written romantic interest, and Robert should really be the support rather than the lead. He’s not complex enough to carry the film’s weight, and his Zelig-like adventures give the Holocaust a feeling of suspenseful backdrop rather than surreal nightmare. It doesn’t help that the fates of nearly everyone he passes are almost impatiently brushed aside by writers David S. Ward (the legendary screenwriter behind “The Sting” and “Sleepless in Seattle”) and Bozenna Intrator in their single-minded advance toward the all-important finale.

Rachel’s experiences are similarly sanitized, but Clemens imbues the character with fuller emotion. And the pair do have strong chemistry, which may be the most important factor in what is, ultimately, a Nicholas Sparks–style saga.

Skarsgård is strangely underused, but Nielsen leads an appealing supporting cast that also includes Stephen Dorff as a Nazi general.  And the entire film looks great in a way that reminds us of Coolidge’s extensive experience, which ranges from indie classics like “Valley Girl” and “Rambling Rose” to the Emmy-winning “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.”

She clearly put a lot of thought and effort into production, making use of on-location sites like Poland’s beautiful Izrael Poznanski Palace, and drawing on resident talent for consistently striking mise-en-scène. She and cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski (“The Craft”) also evade the typical pitfalls of historical films, which are often too eager to draw our attention to period details in ostentatious and distracting fashion. Instead, the lush visual warmth matches the carefully researched costumes and uniformly first-rate art and production design.

The opera scenes are occasionally a bit jarring, with professionals obviously dubbing Skarsgård and Suter, but the music is deftly blended, and classical fans will embrace a keenly-assembled soundtrack composed primarily of performances from the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

The pandemic had kept the movie idling, like too many others, and at some point its original title “Music, War and Love” was downgraded to a generic substitute that would better suit a Hallmark movie. Perhaps it was changed to avoid disappointing anyone looking for an in-depth war story, but don’t be fooled: “I’ll Find You” is an ideal diversion for those who like their cinematic escapism with heavy doses of music and love.

“I’ll Find You” opens Friday in U.S. theaters and on-demand.

St. Louis Jewish Light

JPop Culture

 6 things to know about the WWII drama, ‘I’ll Find You’

Dan Buffa , Special For The Jewish Light Published March 3, 2022

Imagine playing the violin in front of an audience you despise in a building that you would rather see burned to the ground and being saved by two unbeatable things: the beauty of the music and the eyes of the person you love locked with your own. That’s the heartbeat of Martha Coolidge’s “ I’ll Find You ,” a World War II drama that is equal parts moving, well-shot for a low-budget war film, and quite timely with the events over in Ukraine.

Here are six things to know about the new release that is available on-demand via popular streaming platforms today.

The plot is inspired by real-life war-torn love tales

Coolidge’s film is inspired by dozens of Polish love stories from the 1930s and 1940s and collected by producer Zbigniew Raczynski. The screenwriters blended these tales to create the unlikely romance between Catholic opera singer Robert Pulaski (Leo Suter) and Jewish violinist Rachel Rubin (Adelaide Clemens) at the outbreak of World War II in Poland. The couple’s wedding plans as well as their concert date at Carnegie Hall are interrupted as Germany invades Poland, starting World War II.

Big-name supporting cast puts in fine work

Connie Nielsen and Stellan Skarsgard fans are in for a treat. Sometimes, when you see a few recognizable names on an indie poster like this, you wonder if they only have a few scenes or so just to help sell the movie. Luckily, that isn’t the case here. Nielsen’s music teacher and Skarsgard’s world-renowned opera singer play key roles in Robert’s search for Rachel, and there are unexpected nuances and consequences involved that add to the drama and the thriller aspect of Coolidge’s movie. When done right, these casting decisions lift up a film. Here these rolls, are fleshed out and aid the film late.

Come for the war drama, stay for the singing

To be honest, when “musical” was attached to this film during a quick Google search, I was worried. Unless they are Jonathan Larson-driven tales of a life gone too soon, the musical genre is not my cup of tea. But “I’ll Find You” doesn’t mess around with its opera-singing origins. If there’s anything that can balance out yet another WWII film, it’s the sweet undertone of music’s fast-moving grace and everlasting power. The scene in question discussed at the very top of this review happens between Robert and Rachel at Auschwitz, as the two victims and star-crossed lovers perform in front of German soldiers who are destroying families by the hour. It’s a taut scene that features solid camera work and impeccable singing.

“If I had known who you were, I would have killed you both.”

The script hits unexpectedly hard at times

Jewish Film Festival documentary 'The Automat' serves up pure charm

One of the most powerful moments of the movie happens near the end when a woman talks about surviving the worst concentration camp due to her skill. She goes on about how she played her music as the train was unloaded, as the Jews were taken to the gas chambers, and how her music was the last thing they ever heard. You can see 100 World War II films and still have that line destroy you. Survivors’ guilt is something that lives and breathes long after the end of the trauma, a fact wonderfully highlighted in the upcoming documentary, “Shoah Ambassadors.”

Young cast members steal the show

You may not know their faces too well just yet, but good luck not looking them up as the credits roll. Suter has two big releases this weekend, including a “Vikings” series sequel on Netflix starting today. There are more than a few occasions where the London native is able to inject much empathy and courage into Robert’s actions without needing much dialogue or help from the cast. But his scenes with Clemens are the best in the film. Their chemistry pushes the film up and showcases their talent in a way that leaves you wanting more. Can’t forget Sebastian Croft and Ursula Parker’s work as the young Robert and Rachel. All four actors leave a dent.

Does it have “TV Movie of The Week” construction and feel?

No, but you also shouldn’t go in expecting “Saving Private Ryan” either. “I’ll Find You” is one of those journeyman films that was completed 3-4 years ago and now is finally getting a worldwide release. It first premiered at Italy and Poland film festivals back in 2019, but it’s only first hitting the USA streaming waves this weekend. So, it brings a rugged indie darling spirit to the forefront, without being outstandingly cinematic. The invasion scenes are mixed with real archival footage, and the sounds and sights of the horrific outbreak are concealed to reactions and street shots.

The pulse of “I’ll Find You” is the music and how it bolstered the love between two innocent souls who fell for each other at the absolute wrong time. Martha Coolidge’s film is a fine option to stay at home and watch this weekend as St. Louis thaws out.

Jewish Film Festival documentary ‘The Automat’ serves up pure charm

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I'll find you, common sense media reviewers.

Star-crossed lovers in war-torn Poland; sex, violence, hope.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Themes of perseverance and doing the right thing i

Featured characters use their talents and means to

Polish actors fill many supporting roles, Polish w

Shootings, sometimes fatal, including one at close

Sex scene includes brief moment where it seems lik

Nazis speak hatefully about the Jewish people and

Nazis smoke cigarettes.

Parents need to know that I'll Find You is a romantic drama about two musicians -- a Catholic opera singer (Leo Suter) and a Jewish violinist (Adelaide Clemens) -- living in Poland during World War II. The story explores little-portrayed aspects of the Holocaust -- specifically, the stories of those who…

Positive Messages

Themes of perseverance and doing the right thing in the worst circumstances.

Positive Role Models

Featured characters use their talents and means to try to help Jewish friends escape persecution during WWII. Main character, his mentor, and a friend of the family demonstrate courage and perseverance by putting themselves at risk to help the Resistance. A central Jewish character shows resilience in using her talent in hopes that she and her family will survive the concentration camps.

Diverse Representations

Polish actors fill many supporting roles, Polish writers co-created the script and story, and the Polish people are depicted positively. Interfaith romance (Catholic-Jewish) intended to demonstrate the adversity the couple would have had to overcome to marry in the 1940s. Members of the Resistance come from different walks of life.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Shootings, sometimes fatal, including one at close range with blood. Dead bodies seen lying in the street, stacked at a concentration camp. Emaciated camp survivor. Primary characters are in serious peril, being hunted and chased by Nazis. Gun to head as threat. Wartime bombing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sex scene includes brief moment where it seems like perhaps a woman's breasts are exposed, but it's not clear. A man laughingly reflects about his father's failed attempt to "make him a man" by taking him to a brothel to lose his virginity. Kisses. Flirting.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Nazis speak hatefully about the Jewish people and spray-paint hate speech on a storefront.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that I'll Find You is a romantic drama about two musicians -- a Catholic opera singer (Leo Suter) and a Jewish violinist ( Adelaide Clemens ) -- living in Poland during World War II. The story explores little-portrayed aspects of the Holocaust -- specifically, the stories of those who survived by playing in the concentration camp orchestras. Little is shown of life inside the camp; rather, the focus is on people who were part of the Resistance, putting themselves at risk by hiding Jewish friends, sabotaging Nazi efforts, and trying to rescue loved ones. Mature content -- including violence, language (largely hate speech), and a couple of images of Nazis smoking -- helps tell the movie's tale with historical accuracy, but much of it is softened enough to be appropriate for younger teens. For instance, there are a couple of fatal shootings that are shocking and have a bit of blood, but they're not graphic. There are also brief images of bodies lying in the street or stacked at concentration camps, and a sex scene is depicted through gentle, loving kisses in bed, with sheets covering sensitive body parts. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

I'LL FIND YOU follows gifted musicians Robert Pulaski (Leo Suter) and Rachel Rubin ( Adelaide Clemens ), whose childhood friendship blossoms into a romance in 1940s Poland. While they grapple with the unlikelihood that they can overcome their religious differences and be together, Nazis invade and occupy Poland. When Rachel is taken to Auschwitz, Robert works with dogged persistence to rescue her.

Is It Any Good?

This period romance will make viewers' hearts swell with wistful hope for finding a similar love. While it seems like I'll Find You may have been created as a take on Romeo and Juliet , the closest comparison to this drama is actually romance classic Somewhere in Time -- which means director Martha Coolidge is doing something right. The odds are against opera singer Robert and violin virtuoso Rachel because of their different faiths. And their situation seems truly insurmountable after Nazis occupy Poland and send Rachel and her family to Auschwitz. Robert embarks on a mission to save her, while she tries to save herself and her family by performing for her captors. It's a cinematic love story, and a fine way to introduce teens to difficult subject matter that they might shy away from. Coolidge weaves archival footage into the film to drive home that this is real , it happened, and we should never forget it. Robert and Rachel's fictional but moving love story can only help drive that reminder home.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how I'll Find You borrows from Romeo and Juliet . Why do you think star-crossed lovers are such a popular plot device?

Had you heard of the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra? Did you know that playing an instrument was a method of survival for some Jews forced into concentration camps? How could you find out more about this part of history?

How does the film demonstrate the risks of opposing the Nazi regime? How does the film demonstrate the necessity of courage , teamwork , integrity , and perseverance as life skills?

Movie Details

• In theaters : February 25, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : February 25, 2022
• Cast : Adelaide Clemens , Leo Suter , Stellan Skarsgard
• Director : Martha Coolidge
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Gravitas Ventures
• Genre : Romance
• Topics : Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , History
• Run time : 116 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : May 17, 2024

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I'll Find You

Where to Watch

Adelaide Clemens (Rachel Rubin) Leo Suter (Robert Pulaski) Stephen Dorff (General Huber) Stellan Skarsgård (Benno Moser) Connie Nielsen (Lena) Ursula Parker (Young Rachel) Sebastian Croft (Young Robert Pulaski) Toby Sebastian (Vlad Dagmarov) Sam Gillett (Wolf Mann) Adam Levy (Aleksander Rubin)

Martha Coolidge

A Catholic opera singer and Jewish violin virtuoso dream of performing together at the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York City, but the German invasion of Poland tears them apart.

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MOVIE REVIEW

“I’LL FIND YOU”

Not rated. On VOD.

“Valley Girl,” “Rambling Rose” and “Material Girls” director Martha Coolidge delivers “I’ll Find You,” an uncharacteristic period romance set in World War II-era Poland. Co-written by Academy Award-winner David S. Ward and produced by Fred Roos (“The Godfather: Part II,” “Apocalypse Now”), the film is based on stories of Polish musicians of the time.

In this case, the protagonists are young, Jewish violinist Rachel Rubin (Adelaide Clemens, “The Great Gatsby”) and Catholic opera singer Robert Pulaski (London-born Leo Suter, who does his own singing). As children (played by Sebastian Croft and Ursula Parker), they were frenemies, studying at the same music school in Lodz, which was run by a head mistress named Lena (Connie Nielsen). As young adults, Robert and Rachel are attracted to one another. But she is expected by her strict and religious family to marry a Jew, and they have a rich, young man from Switzerland ready and willing.

When Lena’s flamboyant, opera-singer brother Benno Moser (Stellan Skarsgard), who is German, hears Robert sing and offers to mentor the young man, Robert seems set for a brilliant career. Rachel and Robert dream of performing together at La Scala and Carnegie Hall. But the dark cloud of imminent Nazi invasion looms.

Rachel’s family plans to escape to Zurich. Instead they must hide in a secret room in the music school, known only to a few students. Robert, meanwhile, joins the resistance with his musician friends and helps smuggle food into the ghetto.

The writers deftly weave music, some of it popular, into this story of musicians. You can see that it is the lifeblood of these characters, including Benno, who is very well-connected and secretly plotting against Hitler. In a development worthy of “Inglourious Basterds,” Benno and his “discovery” Robert are commissioned to perform a song from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” before der Fuhrer himself. The plot will further involve Rachel playing the violin in the orchestra at Auschwitz.

“I’ll Find You,” which was filmed on location in Lodz and Krakow, is not the type of film you’d expect from the director of “Real Genius.” But Coolidge does a lovely job, especially with the cast. Stephen Dorff is quite fierce as a Nazi general. The production design, costumes and other period details are quite impressive. Clemens is a standout in the Isolde-like role of the war-tossed romantic heroine Rachel. Nielsen and Skarsgard, reunited here after their roles in Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac,” make deeply valuable contributions to the film. Skarsgard especially relishes the role of the rakish, rock-star-like Benno.

You will hear Chopin, Bizet and Gluck as well the music of Academy Award winning film composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (“Finding Neverland”) and the tune “Lili Marleen,” the German love song that was popular with both the Axis and Allied troops. I hope “I’ll Find You” finds the audience it deserves.

(“I’ll Find You” contains a sexually suggestive scene, violence and mature themes.)

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Film Review: “I’ll Find You” Tells a Deceptively New Tale

Written by: Robin C. Farrell | February 24th, 2022

I’ll Find You (Martha Coolidge, 2019) 3 out of 4 stars.

While I’ll Find You might seem like an all-too-familiar period love story, it winds up being something of a collection of surprises. It follows the traditions of the romance genre and also offers something new. Supposedly inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , it tells the tale of young musicians Rachel (Adelaide Clemens, To the Stars ) and Robert (Leo Suter, Fallen ), who meet while both passionately studying the violin in Poland.

Their relationship, while at first rocky and competitive, evolves into young love, despite the fact that Robert is Catholic and Rachel, Jewish. Robert impresses a famed opera star, Benno Moser (Stellan Skarsgård, Dune ), with an unexpected gift for singing and abandons the violin for opera. The film then jumps ahead several years when the two reunite and their continued connection over music rekindles the romance between them.

Between Rachel’s engagement to someone else, as well as their different religions, the obstacles posed for them aren’t trivial but the real threat emerges with the Nazi invasion of Poland, religion as a divisive factor falling by the wayside. As the film deftly conveys, this isn’t solely about their romance. While the rest of World War II is being fought elsewhere (and right on top of them, occasionally), and, yes, Rachel happens to be the love of Robert’s life, this is one precarious attempt to save at least one family, even one life, from genocide.

Some of the more emotional moments of realization, connection, and high romance are played quietly, even passively, but that doesn’t impact the overall experience. The relationships are compelling, Clemens and Suter play their roles beautifully, and the theme of musicianship is constant, without being overstated or out of place. The film does rely heavily on an audience’s preexisting knowledge of the era, though. The danger that the Nazis present isn’t fully realized until close to the end, highlighting the war’s gritty aftermath in 1945. It doesn’t go amiss, but some of the weightier visuals could have gone a long way earlier in the film to remind us why those early days were so dangerous and what the invasion actually meant.

But that kind of gritty realism isn’t the point here. I’ll Find You isn’t a deep dive into history and therefore stays consistent. Director Martha Coolidge ( Material Girls ) doesn’t let the film stray into the brutal horror when the message is that love conquers all; that there is hope, even amongst the tragedy. I found myself emotionally invested even without a grittier backdrop. This is unlike almost any other film of this era I have seen before and to find a new approach is something to be appreciated.

Robin C. Farrell

Robin C. Farrell is an editor, videographer, author, and nerd. Video production lead for Trail Grid Pro in Frederick, MD, she also competes in annual film races as part of Star Wipe Films. Farrell self-published her first book, Resistance Rising: A Genre Wars Novel ,, and is the co-host and producer of Coffee & Contemplation , a Stranger Things podcast.

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Film review: I'll Find You

If there is a through line to the career of director Martha Coolidge ( Rambling Rose, Real Genius, Valley Girl ), it is her consistent ability to make films that are better than they had any right to be given scripts that were not of the top tier. One of numerous independent directors of the 1980s who moved to television and cable in the 1990s when the tide turned away from low-key comedy-dramas, Coolidge is back with I’ll Find You , her first feature in over a decade. Once again, her work, in collaboration with exemplary technical contributions, is in service of a second rate script.

Filmed on location in Poland, I’ll Find You is a love story between two musical prodigies who first meet in the mid 1930s. Rachel (Ursula Parker) is a talented young violinist whose abilities set her apart from her classmates. She does not immediately get along with new student Robert (Sebastian Croft), who also aspires to be a violinist. Intimidated by Rachel’s superior skills, Robert sulks until he finds that his real talent is in singing. He also comes to realize that his initial antipathy to Rachel masks stronger feelings, in spite of their different religions—she is Jewish, he is Catholic.

After some years apart, Robert (played as an adult by Leo Suter) returns hoping to resume his relationship with Rachel (Adelaide Clemens). He is disappointed to find that she has been engaged to David, the scion of a wealthy manufacturing family, who expects her to give up her dreams of becoming a professional musician in order to tend his house and bear his children.

As if there weren’t enough impediments to the course of true love, it is the summer of 1939, and Adolph Hitler is about to make good his threats to invade Poland.

The film’s original title was Music, War and Love , which bluntly spells out the three themes of the story. Rachel and her family are taken to Auschwitz, and Robert separates from his own family in order to remain in Poland and find a way to free the love of his life.

And that’s where the story grinds to a halt. To state the obvious, romance and concentration camps are not a natural fit. Having made the decision to go down that route, the script then does all it can to avoid the potential pitfalls. The film concludes with a post-war third act that contrives a flimsy impediment to the course of true love, only to brush it away to rush to the expected happy ending.

The unsatisfying sloppiness of the story is all the more surprising given that co-scripting credit is given to Hollywood veteran David S. Ward, known for The Sting and Sleepless in Seattle . If he was brought in to fix up an unsatisfactory early draft, his work was insufficient. He would have done far better to excise the scenes set during the war in order to build up the ones set after it: some stories are better when you only hear about them.

What makes the denouement of I’ll Find You especially disappointing is that so much of the movie is first-rate stuff. The production seems to have had a substantial budget, and makes excellent use of Polish locations (primarily in Lódz and Kraków). The photography and lighting make it a pleasure to look at, just as the score of original and classical music sweeps the viewer into the story. (Many of the behind-the-scenes contributors are Hollywood veterans of Polish origin, six of them Oscar winners or nominees.) Suter, who does much of his own singing, and Clemens make a pleasing pair of young lovers, and are surrounded by a cast filled with Polish stars and such internationally familiar faces as Stellan Skarsgård,  Stephen Dorff and Connie Nielsen.

Maybe the biggest disappointment about I’ll Find You comes from the fact that this is the kind of theatrical movie that doesn’t seem to get made anymore. Viewers who are tired of superheroes and crude comedies should see it if it comes to a theater near you; just go in prepared to enjoy its virtues while regretting its flaws.

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Oblivious to Some Details: Our Review of ‘I’ll Find You’

Films like Martha Coolidge’s I’ll Find You are always timely but I’ll get to why that is eventually. I’ll start almost at the beginning of this film, where a boy leads another, Robert Pulaski (Sebastian Croft) to a secret room. They’re both students in a music academy, Robert at a time trying to be a violinist. One of the girls in the secret society in the school’s attic is Rachel Rubin (Ursula Parker). She is so good playing the same instrument that he quits playing.

Fortunately, at a party, Robert sings a Christmas carol so well that he switches from the violin to singing. They’re still students in the academy well into their twenties, and they grew out of being rivals and turn into lovers. They see each other while waiting to enter singing and violin playing competitions. Competitions aren’t their only barriers though. Robert (Leo Suter) is Polish Catholic and Rachel (Adelaide Clemens) is Jewish – in 1939. David S. Ward and Bozenna Intrator’s script can either set up something good or mess it up.

Films like this have the job to capturing the reality of that time, and in fairness to it, it follows the trend in recent war movies to show less gray and show more colour. It sees Lodz, the movie’s setting during its first half, as a vibrant city before the Germans came. The movie, then has two choices. Either it can depict the city as one oblivious to European politics or one that talks about that topic too much. Or maybe it can depict the city as both, but the mix feels awkward here.

I’ll Find You , then, shows that its job is more difficult that it seems, mostly because it’s trying to get in its own way. Eventually, the German Army enters Polish territory. Even in depicting such difficult times, this film has tendencies to turn everything into a romantic gesture that it feels flat if not outright ridiculous.  That earnestness turns into ridiculousness in the scenes involving Robert. There’s a specific scene when tries to run towards the truck taking the Rubins away which, again, seems romantic. The film convinces viewers that the Germans painstakingly went through different secret rooms to arrest the Rubins. Meanwhile they’re oblivious, if not indifferent to the Polish guy in the street. One who’s crying because they’re taking that specific Jewish family away.

I’ll Find You , although a failure, is still an interesting one. It somehow roped in a few veteran actors to play older supporting roles. Stephen Dorff plays General Huber, one of the ‘good Germans’. And I appreciate that this movie follows the recent trend of making Nazis look normal (i.e. ugly) regardless of whether or not they’re paycheque Nazis. Connie Nielsen plays Robert and Rachel’s teacher. The movie depicts her leaving a building with swastika banners before the army arrests the Rubins, and I have ambivalent feelings about how the movie never addresses this afterwards. For God’s sake someone put Connie Nielsen in a good movie.

Lastly, Stellan Skarsgard plays one of Robert’s childhood musical heroes who helps Robert and has his own convoluted plans of getting Rachel out of Auschwitz. Skarsgard as an ascot wearer in a house full of gold can’t save this movie. But I will always have fond memories of him signing an operatic song about a rumour about Hitler’s anatomy (a real song, by the way). And that fondness carries even if Skarsgard are Suter are lip syncing. The voices are trained enough that they come off as real, the only real thing in this movie.

Let’s return to Suter then. Lip syncing or actual singing are his assets here, and he’s also a good crier. But the third gives him the chance to physicalize just how difficult the next few years will be. He is, after all, looking for someone before computers were a thing, and he fails evince that difficulty. The same goes for every other actor Robert talks to as he tries to look for Rachel. They act like nice but deadpan people who were for the DMV. They should acting like people handling sensitive information that mean a lot to people. Which is their job as actors.

• Release Date: 2/25/02022

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I’ll Find You

October 18, 2022 David Nusair I , Streaming 0

Directed by Martha Coolidge, I’ll Find You follows Robert (Leo Suter) and Rachel (Adelaide Clemens) as their love affair is cut short by the Second World War – with the narrative detailing Robert’s ongoing efforts at tracking Rachel down after she’s captured by the Nazis. It’s an inherently stirring premise that’s employed to sporadically watchable yet pervasively erratic effect by Coolidge, as the filmmaker, armed with David S. Ward and Bozenna Intrator’s screenplay, delivers an hit-and-miss endeavor that gets off to a decidedly less-than-auspicious start – with the movie’s opening stretch, which details the exploits of several hopelessly generic children, suffering from a low-rent and almost aggressively meandering feel that proves rather disastrous. There’s little doubt, then, that I’ll Find You improves slightly as it progresses into a midsection devoted to an appealing love triangle and Robert’s aforementioned attempts at tracking down Rachel, and it’s clear, as well, that the movie benefits from a smattering of unexpectedly compelling encounters and sequences (eg Robert attempts to board a train full of Nazi soldiers, Robert visits a recently-liberated concentration camp, etc). And although the intense final stretch ensures that the picture concludes on a positive note, I’ll Find You ‘s overall impact is ultimately dulled by an overlong running time and general emphasis on far-from-enthralling elements – which, when coupled with a curiously uncinematic visual sensibility, cements the movie’s place as a decent-enough epic that feels like it could (and should) be so much better.

**1/2 out of ****

Adelaide Clemens , Connie Nielsen , Martha Coolidge , Stellan Skarsgård , Stephen Dorff

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FILM REVIEW: I’LL FIND YOU

by Luke Y. Thompson | Sep 24, 2022

(IMAGE: Music, War, and Love)

Gravitas Ventures, 2019. 116 minutes. Romance/Drama

Grade: 2.5 out of 4

If I’m being totally honest, a movie that presents itself as Romeo and Juliet , but with young classical musicians in Nazi-occupied Poland, my inclination is to tense up like I just got handed ten pages of homework. Literally nothing about it sounds appealing, and yet I’ll Find You is a handsomely mounted production of the sort that used to play to larger adult audiences but nowadays might book a week with the Laemmles at best.

The Romeo and Juliet comparison, for a start, is unfair. Yes, the lead character says, out loud, in case we miss it, “She’s Jewish and I’m Catholic — there couldn’t be a crush!” But it takes two to make a doomed romance, and the Juliet in this telling remains offscreen for much of the movie, making it just plain Romeo. And neither of them is dramatically suicidal; in fact, the entire point is that they can survive something as horrific as the Holocaust and keep trying to find each other nonetheless.

As the story begins, singer extraordinaire Robert (Leo Suter) has returned to his old music school after a two-year absence to find that his childhood crush, violinist Rachel (Adelaide Clemens) is engaged to a wealthy Jewish man named David, whose family lives in the safe, relatively Nazi-proof nation of Switzerland. Robert and Rachel accept that this is for the best, and that they can’t be together, but the night before her family are scheduled to leave, Germany invades Poland, cutting off all transportation escape routes. Instead of going to be with her fiancee, Rachel and her family must instead move into the secret attic room of the music school, and hope for a better outcome than Anne Frank.

Robert joins the resistance, while Rachel and family get hauled off by Germans, at which point he makes the vow that gives the movie its title. But can his Catholicism provide enough cover when he goes deep into the heart of Nazi Germany? Even with the aid of famous opera singer Benno Moser (Stellan Skarsgard, lip-syncing gloriously)?

I’ll Find You ‘s biggest surprise is its director: Martha Coolidge, best known for ’80s popular faves Real Genius and Valley Girl . It’s safe to say Leo Suter is not a discovery on the level of Val Kilmer or Nicolas Cage, but the story nonetheless feels in good hands, once again balancing realistic youthful yearnings with (musical) genius and cultural prejudices. A sequence that has Robert and Benno performing a concert in Auschwitz, performing the subtext-laden Carmen , where they could be killed if he evinces the slightest hint of recognition when he sees Rachel, is a nail-biter. And Skarsgard singing “Hitler…has only got one ball!” as a singing demo to Robert should be a memeable moment. Stephen Dorff, meanwhile, is unrecognizable as a Nazi double-agent. Accents run all over the place — initially all the youngsters sound English and the adults Polish, but once Skarsgard and Dorff come in it’s kind of a free-for-all.

The last act stretches things a bit, as the war winds down, and Robert travels the globe from scene to scene with the most meagre of leads. Wasn’t international travel, like, hard in those days? And how exactly is this Romeo and Juliet , again? Spoiler: it’s not. But that’s generally for the best, since Shakespeare’s teens gave up too easily in comparison to Robert. However, by making this effectively just one side of the story, it makes it more a quest narrative than a typical romance. When Rachel finally tells her side of the story, it’s compelling enough that we wish we’d actually seen it, too.

Shot mainly in Poland, I’ll Find You is laden with authentic-feeling locations, sets, and costumes, without feeling overly beholden to authenticity. Its broad historical strokes are certainly true, but there’s a bit of movie logic in play to ensure viewers go home mostly happy. It’s no insult to say this is one you can probably take your grandparents to, and not be miserably bored the entire time.

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I’LL FIND YOU

"skewed moral compass".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Strong miscellaneous content including moral relativism as multiple affairs are justified for various reasons, one brief scene involving animal cruelty, and characters lie to ensure their safety from the German National Socialists.

More Detail:

Set in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, I’LL FIND YOU begins as Rachel Rubin and Robert Pulaski get off on the wrong foot in their music academy as young children. They butt heads and compete against each other to be the best at the violin. However, after Robert makes a holiday effort to amend things with her, he soon discovers that his talent lies within his voice and begins to pursue a singing career instead.

Robert leaves and returns all grown up to reunite with his former classmates and with his childhood crush, Rachel. However, he soon learns she’s engaged to be married and meant to travel to Prague for a music competition. He begs her not to go through with the marriage. When their teacher Lena warns of the Germans invading Prague, he volunteers to accompany Rachel on her journey.

When they return, they have consummated their relationship, although Rachel is still engaged to be married. Her parents are frustrated with her lack of interest in her fiancé, but Rachel’s father informs the family that they will be leaving for Switzerland the next morning to avoid the Nazi invasion. However, the invasion comes just hours before they are set to leave, and they are forced into hiding. Robert joins a local resistance movement, but it isn’t enough to save the Rubin family when the Nazis find them in their hiding spot and swiftly escort them to Auschwitz.

Robert immediately decides to accept an offer to study opera with a prestigious teacher, Benno Moser, in Germany so that he can figure out a way to locate and free Rachel. He is forced almost instantly to perform in front of Adolf Hitler himself and other officers of the Nazi regime, but with Moser on his side, they’re able to make their way into Auschwitz to perform with the orchestra there, where he finally sees Rachel in the first chair violin.

Devastated by her imprisonment, Moser tries to buy her freedom under the cover of wanting her to play for his opera, but it doesn’t work because of her Jewish background. Soon after, Moser is suspected of treason by the Nazis, and Robert is forced to run from the estate but finds refuge helping out on a small farm in the woods. While there, he spots British troops making their way through who inform him that the war is in fact almost over. Now he can finally continue his mission and keep his promise to find Rachel so that they can finally be together in safety.

Most movies centering on the Holocaust can be extremely emotional and pull on the heartstrings of the audience, but this story falls short of evoking any such feeling. The story is written on almost a surface level, and the characters aren’t able to create empathy with the viewers, leaving an almost apathetic feeling. The lead actor feels like he’s reaching at most points and can’t get to where he needs to be to move the audience the way they should be moved. The production values are high, with beautiful locations, costumes and period piece hair and makeup, but with the story lacking, the production design isn’t enough to hold the viewer’s attention.

I’LL FIND YOU follows a primarily romantic worldview, with some moral elements, but a lot of moral relativism. The main character’s affair is easily justified because of their love for each other, and they sleep together even though Rachel is engaged to another man. Of course, good does triumph over evil in regards to the war, as it is common knowledge, but the moral compass by all of the protagonists is heavily skewed. I’LL FIND YOU HAS a mild amount of violence, including some blood, sexual situations which include nudity, and some alcohol and tobacco use. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for I’LL FIND YOU.

• THE FILMMAKERS

ADELAIDE CLEMENS LEO SUTER URSULA PARKER SEBASTIAN CROFT STEPHEN DORFF CONNIE NIELSEN STELLAN SKARSGÅRD

directed by MARTHA COOLIDGE

Is any love more tender than young love, or more agonizing when threatened by extinction from outside forces? Shakespeare’s classic paradigm finds contemporaneity in I’LL FIND YOU, a new film directed by Martha Coolidge. Instead of Romeo and Juliet in Renaissance Verona, we find ROBERT and RACHEL in mid-20th Century Europe - ensnared by the tumult of World War II. ROBERT, a catholic opera singer and RACHEL, a Jewish violin virtuoso, dream of one day performing together at legendary Carnegie Hall. When they’re torn apart by the German invasion of Poland, Robert vows to find Rachel, no matter what...

Inspired by stories of Polish musicians from the 1930-is/40-is I’LL FIND YOU was produced by Zbigniew Raczynski & Lukas Raczynski (father and son), by Bozenna Intrator and by Fred Roos - an Oscar Winner, a producer of such films as The Godfather, Apocalypse now and Lost in translation. His son Alexander as Executive Producer supported Roos. Film directed Martha Coolidge, admired for the portrayals of young people in such lauded films as Valley Girl, Rambling Rose and Real Genius. Coolidge has also directed adult fare (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Angie, Lost in Yonkers) and is the only woman to serve as president of the Directors Guild of America. The screenplay wrote American film director and screenwriter, Oscar Winner, David S. Ward and Polish-American poet, screenwriter and producer, Bozenna Intrator. Another Oscar Winner, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek composed the score to I’LL FIND YOU.

The role of Robert is taken by Leo Suter, a rising leading man and recent Oxford University graduate with extensive experience in student theatre. Robert is his first leading role in movies. He most recently appeared in the TV series, Victoria and Ransom.

Adelaide Clemens, who plays Rachel, began acting professionally as a teenager in her native Australia. Among her many credits are (fellow countryman) Baz Lerman’s The Great Gatsby and Generation Um, in which she appears opposite Keanu Reeves. She also stars in the Sundance Channel’s lauded miniseries, Rectify.

Leo and Adelaide are joined by the gifted Scandinavians, Stellan Skarsgård from Sweden and Connie Nielsen, a Dane now living in the U. S. Skarsgård, soon to appear in Terry Gilliam’s rose to international acclaim in the 1988 film, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Among his best-known features are The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo along with such lighter pictures as Cinderella, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Mama Mia! Recently he was awarded a Golden Globe for his role in mini-series Chernobyl. To call him versatile is an understatement but the role of Benno is his first as an opera singer. Connie Nielsen plays Benno’s sister, Lena, head mistress of the music school. Nielsen is known for her roles as Queen Hippolyta in Wonder Woman and its follow-ups, Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984. A former model, she appeared in The Devil’s Advocate before co-starring opposite Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. She was also in Mission to Mars, The Ice Hunt and Nymphomaniac.

Robert as youngster is played by Sebastian Croft, a BAFTA nominated actor, born and raised in Great Britain, a shooting teenage star best known for his portrayal of the young Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones and most recently for playing the lead role in Horrible Histories. Young Rachel is performed by Ursula Parker, an American young actress who plays the violin surpassingly well. She has been recognized for her dramatic roles but has been most notably praised for her portrayal of Jane in the Emmy winning comedy series Louie.

directed by

MARTHA COOLIDGE

Screenplay by

DAVID S. WARD and BOZENNA INTRATOR

Produced by

ZBIGNIEW RACZYNSKI & LUKAS RACZYNSKI

BOZENNA INTRATOR

Executive Producer:

ALEXANDER ROOS

Line Producer

RICHARD SCHLESINGER

Director of Photography

ALEKSANDER GRUSZYNSKI ASC

Production Designer

MAREK DOBROWOLSKI

Costumes Designer

ELZBIETA RADKE

SUSAN HOWARD-FIELD

ERIC SEARS ACE

RICHARD CHEW ACE

PAUL SEYDOR ACE

JAN A. P. KACZMAREK

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Plugged in reviews: new ‘jesus’ film in american sign language, plus ‘thelma’ and ‘the bikeriders’.

“Jesus” retells the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — all in American Sign Language. “Thelma” has good actors and some winning ideas, but it lacks a bit of grandmother’s common sense. “The Bikeriders” can feel a teensy bit like ‘West Side Story,’ but with a lot less dancing and a lot more swearing.

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Read on to get Plugged In on what’s beyond the movie titles and trailers for faith-filled and family-first reviews from Focus on the Family’s Plugged In .

Jesus: A Deaf Missions Film – In Theaters

“Jesus” provides a unique depiction of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — one that will hopefully take the gospel to many Deaf people for the first time.

The creation of the film didn’t come without its challenges. When translating the gospels into American Sign Language, Deaf director Joseph Josselyn had to find unique ways to express the same timeless truths found in the Bible — not only in ways that continue to align with Scripture but also in ways that carry the same emotional weight.

Be sure to listen in to The Plugged In Show , a weekly podcast with lighthearted reviews for parents and conversations about entertainment, pop culture and technology: 

And that weight is shouldered by Josselyn’s Deaf cast, who effectively translate the gospel accounts’ most emotional moments not only with their hands but also with their facial expressions. And if I, someone who isn’t a part of Deaf community, can feel the weight of the emotional undertones in Jesus, I can only imagine the impact it can have on someone who is.

And that impact is the point of the movie’s creation.

“Deaf people, including myself, often watch movies where the actors are speaking and we have to rely on the captions,” Josselyn signed in a YouTube video about the project. “Because of this, we don’t have that same connection with the film that a hearing person would. If the deaf community sees a film that’s done entirely in sign language, they’re captivated, regardless of the topic of the film.”

And when that topic is Jesus, in our eyes, it’s all the better.

[“Jesus” is out in select movie theaters June 20 and 23, 2024.]

Read the rest of the review here . Watch the trailer here .

Thelma – In Theaters

Actress June Squibb has been gracing stage and screen for a good long time. And now she gets her first lead role in a film at the young age of 94. Squibb hits her marks and cues with the seamless poise of a pro and delivers her punchlines with aplomb, but her film … isn’t always so graceful.

Don’t get me wrong, “Thelma” has some very nice, and at times tender, thoughts to share about family, the elderly, and the inevitable changes that come with age. But frankly, the whole doesn’t equal the parts.

Writer/director Josh Margolin attempts to make his protagonist’s get-the-scammers quest into something, uh, cute . But it becomes a silly fantasy adventure pic that tends to clash with June Squibb’s and Richard Roundtree’s earnest characterizations. And then when you lacquer everything with a coating of completely unnecessary crude language (including three f-bombs in a PG-13 movie!) the whole thing feels a bit out of sync.

Maybe it just needed more grandmotherly good sense.

It’s too bad, too. This could have been a film that family audiences would enjoy and mull over instead of one they’ll likely, and wisely avoid.

The Bikeriders – In Theaters

The Vandals gang was built on a number of things: chrome and leather and loyalty and such. But it was built on something else, too: paradox .

The Vandals’ members were loners who formed a tight, near-unbreakable family. Kathy notes that they despised any law or rule — until they formed the club. Then they wrote up plenty of rules for themselves, and they increasingly adhered to those rules with the passion of a pharisee. The Vandals loved their freedom. And yet, within the bonds of the gang, many ultimately found themselves virtual prisoners — unable to shake free of its constricting culture, unable to change its trajectory.

Maybe there’s a spiritual lesson in there: When we, in our very human ways, seek freedom outside of Christ, we find ourselves imprisoned by our own human desires and failures. When we submit to Him, we — again paradoxically — find ourselves free.

But “The Bikeriders” doesn’t really go there, so we’ll leave it at that and focus on the movie itself — a movie that can feel a teensy bit like “West Side Story,” but with a lot less dancing and a lot more swearing.

And language isn’t the film’s only problem. The violence can be extreme and is, at times, unremitting. The way women are treated here is often abysmal. And if you’re looking for a film that lauds law-abiding citizens … well, this ain’t it.

“The Bikeriders” takes us into a culture with which few of us are likely personally familiar. But the film doesn’t seem to have much more reason for being than simply that: There are no broader themes in play, nothing to think about afterward.

It is, perhaps, like a ride on the open road on your Harley or Indian in a driving snowstorm. Sure, the trip theoretically has its pleasures. But in reality, it’s kind of a slog.

Plugged In is a Focus on the Family publication designed to shine a light on the world of popular entertainment while giving families the essential tools they need to understand, navigate, and impact the culture in which they live. Through our reviews, articles and discussions, we hope to spark intellectual thought, spiritual growth and a desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Reviews written by Paul Asay , Bob Hoose and Kennedy Unthank .

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‘The Exorcism’ Review: Russell Crowe Cuts Through a Muddy Reflection on Religious Trauma

Alison foreman.

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There are several similarities between the Catholic Church and the film industry. Among them is a tendency to let powerful people get away with unconscionable behavior. In that insidious overlap, director Joshua John Miller finds the heart of “ The Exorcism ,” an ambitious social commentary that commingles Hollywood’s penchant for wrongdoing with the abuses of the Vatican for a unique portrait of an actor unraveled.

Why? In a year that’s already seen two major horror movies competing for the title of Best Virgin Nun to Give Birth to the Antichrist , Miller and co-writer M.A. Fortin have miraculously managed to achieve a kind of original sin. Caught somewhere between the #MeToo-era “The Assistant” and your run-of-the-mill “The Conjuring” nonsense , this atypical drama makes clever critique of two institutions — and lets the toxic spirit that binds them hang in the air like a cinematic sign of the cross. It’s imperfect and awkward with a last act that swan dives straight into pavement. Still, “The Exorcism” is nothing if not encouraging in its core creativity.

At the outset of the film within a film, an unnamed actor playing the Father Karras role (Adrian Pasdar) is seen alone. He’s practicing his mysterious briefcase entrance and the stairway ascent to the possessed girl’s bedroom when suddenly something supernatural seems to rush the set to kill him. With no witnesses, the would-be scream king’s untimely demise is ruled a suicide, and the pastoral posting for “Father Arlington” ( sure! ) needs filling on the call sheet soon after.

Enter Russell Crowe as Tony, a washed-up ‘80s action star and recovering alcoholic cast against type by the douchey director Peter (Adam Goldberg). In the first of many disquieting method acting moments, the bearded film bro suspiciously suggests his ex-Catholic actor pray during his audition… and likes it a little too much when he does.

“You’re irredeemable ,” the director caricature hisses at Crowe in an early scene that puts the “Gladiator” star on the wrong end of a “Whiplash” vignette. Ostensibly, the tough love moment is an ill-advised attempt by Peter to capture something “real” for his IP cash-grab, but it’s also a reflection of the controversial legacy left behind by Friedkin’s sometimes alarming behaviors. The filmmaker reportedly fired guns inside and at will while shooting “The Exorcist” — just to keep his performers on their toes. Here, the fictional Peter isn’t physically abusive to Tony, but he’s manipulative and might as well be saying, “You’re replaceable !” to a man already on the brink. Crowe meets the moment with all the kaleidoscopic vulnerability that kid actor Linda Blair brought to Regan MacNeil more than 50 years ago, stress rippling across Tony’s face like a tentacle busting through skin even as the VFX fails to impress.

On the confused fringes, on-set Catholic consultant for the movie Father Conor (David Hyde Pierce, hugely wasted) offers Lee spiritual guidance and practical advice. Simultaneously, love interest Blake (Chloe Bailey, charming) makes the case that the movie itself has summoned an evil presence that’s now inside Tony. To speed things along, there’s also supporting actor Joe (Sam Worthington), waiting in the wings to take over his competition’s character at a moment’s notice. With painful cliches — LOUD NOISES! FLASHY LIGHTS! MORE LOUD NOISES! — appearing where inventive supernatural imagery should be, “The Exorcism” is at its most clumsy when resolving these storylines near the climax. Suffice to say, attempting to end a delicate horror puzzle with a brutally unsubtle action sequence is the filmmaking equivalent of treating a demon child via gun.

A Vertical release from Miramax and Outerbanks Entertainment, “The Exorcism” hits theaters June 21.

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The Bikeriders

After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must cho... Read all After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club. After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

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• Trivia 'The Bikeriders' was the name of the 1967 photo-book by Danny Lyon but always intended as a working title during production. However nobody could think of anything better so the name was kept for the release.
• Goofs While Kathy is recording her interview in Florida, the reel is spinning in the reel to reel deck, but there is no tape visible.

Brucie : What about the bar?

Johnny : Burn it down.

• Connections Features The Wild One (1953)
• Soundtracks Lonely Room Written by J. M. Rigter and Willie Murray Performed by Mickey Murray Courtesy of Sun Records

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• Oct 16, 2023
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• June 21, 2024 (United States)
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• Jun 23, 2024
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Movies in Theaters (2024)

The Newest Movie Reviews to Get You Through This Stacked Weekend

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It’s now the end of what has been quite a long week and you know what that means: lots of new movies to watch. We’ve not only covered them all, but we’ve assembled our reviews of each for you to read. Whether you want to learn about the new big release in theaters starring Russell Crowe or dive into the new sci-fi movie starring Léa Seydoux on VOD, we’ve got you covered.

In Theaters

'fancy dance' (2024), directed by erica tremblay.

Kicking things off is Erica Tremblay ’s fantastic Fancy Dance , the latest film to star the great Lily Gladstone after she blew us all away with her incredible work in Killers of the Flower Moon from last year. Her latest is a modern classic in the making, seeing her play the hustler with a heart of gold Jax as she tries to find her missing sister and look after her young niece. In my rave review back from when it played at Sundance in 2023 , I called it “one of the best of the year” and that absolutely remains true for 2024. Specifically, it’s a film that deserves just as much attention as her past work as Gladstone again proves she is a performer like no other.

Fancy Dance

Fancy Dance boasts not only another magnificent performance from Lily Gladstone, but every other aspect of it becomes a beautiful work of art.

• The film takes a familiar story and makes it into something that is bursting with life.
• Gladstone is able to do more without saying much at all than most actors could with pages and pages of dialogue.
• The conclusion is shattering yet sublime, proving to be one of those moments that can linger forever in our memories.

READ OUR REVIEW

'Janet Planet' (2024)

Directed by: annie baker.

Keeping up with films that made a buzz in festivals though are now rolling out into theaters, the joyous Janet Planet is also finally able to be seen by the world. Starring Julianne Nicholson in one of her very best performances to date in a career never lacking for them, my review I wrote earlier this year called it “a film of small moments and how they can accumulate into something that feels like it may last a lifetime.” It will change you just as it does its characters.

Janet Planet (2024)

Janet Planet is spectacular feature debut from writer-director Annie Baker with great performances by Zoe Ziegler and Julianne Nicholson that's one of the best films of 2024 so far.

• The film finds an understated beauty in its small corner of the world, delicately exploring the relationship between a mother and daughter.
• Janet Planet explores life's most pressing questions about how we can become set down certain paths and whether we can find a way free of them.
• Julianne Nicholson inhabits this world so naturally, it feels like you're just peeking in on Janet's life.
• The film ends with a fitting coda, cementing it as an evocative and essential work.

'Kinds of Kindness' (2024)

Directed by: yorgos lanthimos.

Good news for fans of Yorgos Lanthimos as his new movie, Kinds of Kindness , is a return to him being his unrestrained weird self. Starring Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone as well as many others, it’s a film of three different yet interconnected stories where everyone is anything but kind. In my review from when it premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival , I said that it was a “return to form” for the director and “while he was far from dead like the corpses in this film, Kinds of Kindness feels like Lanthimos is himself coming back to life once more.”

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

Kinds of Kindness is a return to form for Yorgos Lanthimos, bring his distinctly dark humor and boasting a standout performance by Jesse Plemons.

• After some more straightforward successes, Kinds of Kindness proves that Lanthimos still has plenty of weird films left in the tank.
• All of the cast get their moment to excel, but it's Jesse Plemons who proves to be the best of the bunch.
• With a strong opener and closer, Lanthimos again dissects our toxic relationships with plenty of flair to spare.
• The middle section is a little more confined and the overall film doesn't have the room to build tension like Lanthimos has in the past.

'Thelma' (2024)

Directed by: josh margolin.

Move over Tom Cruise , there is a new action star in town and her name is June Squibb . In writer-director Josh Margolin ’s Thelma , she’s on a mission to get her money back after it is stolen by some no-good scammers. In his review from back at this year’s Sundance , Senior Film Editor Ross Bonaime said that this is “the definition of a light comedy, but Squibb and Margolin’s handling of this pseudo-spy parody makes it a delight.”

Thelma (2024)

Thelma, from writer-director Josh Margolin, gives June Squibb her first lead role in an action-comedy that showcases her strengths.

• June Squibb is delightful as the title character, trying to get revenge on elderly scammers.
• Josh Margolin's script is a smart parody that never insults its older characters.
• The supporting cast never quite manages to feel as fleshed out as the characters played by Squibb and Richard Roundtree.

'The Exorcism' (2024)

Directed by: joshua john miller.

Continuing on we have Crowe taking on yet another movie of demons with The Exorcism , a movie about a movie where he plays a man tasked with playing a priest in a production where he begins to become actually possessed. Does this meta-horror take have the potential to be a new Scream ? Not according to our reviewer and Horror Editor Emma Kiely. She called the film “a dense, dark, and heavy horror drama” that starts out well enough to abandon “everything it's been setting up to give way to formulaic and stale scare sequences.”

The Exorcism (2024)

The Exorcism has an interesting idea at its core but ultimately falls victim to its self-seriousness and empty scares.

• The meta quality of its concept makes for some fun jabs at the horror genre.
• The Exorcism abandons all the interesting ideas it sets up in the first act to give way to drab scare sequences.
• Russell Crowe gives a much less enlightened performance than his last horror venture.

'The Bikeriders' (2024)

Directed by: jeff nichols.

Okay, so if the big theatrical horror release of the week left us cold, maybe the historical biker drama The Bikeriders will get our motor running? Unfortunately, while this film has a stacked cast in Jodie Comer , Austin Butler , Mike Faist , Tom Hardy , and more, this again left our Kiely less than compelled . In her review from back at the London Film Festival, she wrote that the film “seems shiny on the surface” though doesn’t deliver on any of its promising elements, falling flat “in its excessive filler, undeveloped characters, and symphony of bonkers accents.”

The Bikeriders

The Bikeriders leans too heavily on its talented ensemble and asks its audience to invest in a half-baked story.

• Jodie Comer gives a committed and passionate performance, making her a stand-out in the cast.
• The marriage between Kathy and Benny is at the center of the story but their relationship isn't developed enough to feel authentic.
• The main characters of The Bikeriders aren't fully formed, making it hard to connect to them.

'Animalia' (2024)

Directed by: sofia alaoui.

If you consider yourself a fan of recent sci-fi series like Constellation and Invasion or just an appreciator of well-told stories in the genre writ large, you’re going to want to see Animalia . A film that takes a unique take on what seems to be a visit by some forces that are not of this Earth, it centers on a woman who has been disconnected from her family and must make her way back to them as the world is coming apart. In my review from back at Sundance , I praised the film’s “willingness to peer directly through the looking glass that most other science fiction works would blink in the face” as this is where it “taps into something that remains as spectacular as it is elusive."

Animalia is a surreal, striking sci-fi vision that proves writer-director Sofia Alaoui is one to watch.

• Oumaïma Barid gives a dynamic performance, grounding the sweeping sci-fi story in the personal.
• There are plenty of standout visual sequences that grab hold of you even as they offer no explicit explanation.
• As the film peers through the looking glass, it taps into something that remains as spectacular as it is elusive.

'I Saw the TV Glow' (2024)

Directed by: jane schoenbrun.

Trust us when we say that I Saw the TV Glow is an A24 horror film that you’ll be talking about all year. The second feature from director Jane Schoenbrun , it’s about a television show called The Pink Opaque that soon becomes a subject of obsession for two young teens. When it’s canceled, they’ll have to figure out what to do with their lives and who each of them are. In his review from Sundance , Bonaime said that it is “a daring step forward for Schoenbrun as a filmmaker and a film that will certainly divide audiences not sure what the hell to make of it.”

I Saw the TV Glow

I Saw the TV Glow is a fascinating sophomore feature by Jane Schoenbrun. It's a weird and beautiful experience that has to be seen to be believed.

• Jane Schoenbrun tells an effective story that blends horror, nostalgia, and larger themes of transition.
• I Saw the TV Glow has a truly strange cast that somehow works well when put together.
• Schoenbrun creates a film that deserves discussion, as it will certainly mean something different to everyone who sees it.

'The Beast' (2024)

Directed by: bertrand bonello.

Last but definitely not least is The Beast , a film whose title could not be more fitting. A monumental and menacing work of sci-fi, it follows two lovers whose lives are connected across multiple timelines that are all seem to be coming apart before them. In my review from back at the Toronto International Film Festival , I called it one of “the most formidable films you'll be lucky enough to see in a lifetime” whose “final echoes you hear may just continue to ring out.”

The Beast (2024)

The Beast is a monumental and menacing sci-fi film with an astounding performance by Léa Seydoux that you won't soon forget.

• Writer-director Bertrand Bonello has made what is his best film yet, making everything come viscerally alive.
• Léa Seydoux is brilliant once more, ensuring we feel every moment even as the film itself is quite unwieldy.
• The ending providing a spectacular and striking conclusion that is certain to be among the most formidable you see for some time.
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Review: In ‘Find Me Here,’ Sisters Grapple With a Father’s Will, and His Legacy

A family gathering fuels Crystal Finn’s new play, in which an excellent cast teases out the many complications of inheritance.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Weddings, anniversaries, holidays: The family get-together is a dramatic gift that keeps on giving to both screen and stage. Crystal Finn’s new play, “Find Me Here,” at Wild Project, falls into a subcategory of the funerals subgenre — the opening of a will. In this case, a patriarch’s last wishes are discovered by his three daughters and their families. Truths and conflicts emerge gingerly, almost tentatively, because Finn is less interested in confrontation than in gentle poking and prodding.

Unfortunately, “Find Me Here,” the third and final installment of Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks 2024 , is also unwilling to commit to any particular point. Its cast, however, including Constance Shulman, Miriam Silverman and Frank Wood, is so good that the production feels like the theater equivalent of handing Formula 1 drivers keys to an economy sedan. The actors are experts, but there is only so much the vehicle can do.

The story revolves around the siblings Nancy (Lizbeth Mackay), Dee-Dee (Shulman) and Deborah (Kathleen Tolan), whose ages range from the mid-60s to the early 70s. Deborah is the oldest and has spent the past 30 years on an island, having followed a guru there. Tolan gives her the beatific mien of someone who can see a light invisible to others, which contrasts nicely with the acerbic Dee-Dee and the stressed-out Nancy.

The will’s most consequential revelation is that Deborah was left nothing, an outcome she shrugs off. When Nancy tells Deborah that their father did love her, Dee-Dee says, “Well that’s … we just don’t know … he did, Deborah.”

Mind you, Nancy also calls their father a tyrant and says that when she informed him that she was getting divorced, he replied, “Three daughters, and not one of them a success.”

Though there are three sisters in the play, Finn (who was in the cast of “ Usus ,” the first installment of Summerworks 2024) doesn’t nod toward Chekhov so much as to some kind of American portraiture painted in small, innocuous brushstrokes.

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Oilers vs Panthers Game 7 live stream: Can you watch for free?

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers clash in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. Either way, history will be made–either the Panthers will win their first Stanley Cup in history, or the Oilers will become the first team since 1942 to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win the Cup.

Is there a free Oilers vs Panthers Game 7 live stream?

Watch the oilers vs panthers game 7 on espn+, watch the oilers vs panthers game 7 live stream from abroad.

Game 7 starts at 8:00 p.m. ET. In the United States, it will be televised on ABC, but if you’re looking to stream the NHL playoffs without cable, we’ve compiled the top options for watching a live stream of the game for free or cheap.

In the United States, you can watch a live stream of Game 7 on Fubo (“Pro” channel package), YouTube TV (“Base Plan”) or DirecTV Stream (“Entertainment” channel package or above). All three of these live-TV streaming services include ABC (available live in most markets) among their channel packages, and all offer a free trial, allowing you to watch tonight’s game without paying anything at all.

The Fubo free trial is seven days long compared to five for YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Fubo also has ABC live in a few more markets than the other two, so we’d recommend going with that as your first option, but all things considered, any three of these options should work perfectly fine for watching a live stream of tonight’s game for free.

If you’ve exhausted all of your free-trial options, and you just want the bare-minimum cheapest way to watch a live stream of the game, then ESPN+ is what you want. ESPN+ costs $11 per month, or, if you want to bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu , you can get all three for a total of just $15 per month.

What’s particularly great about this option, besides the fact that it’s cheap, is that anyone in the United States can watch the game. You don’t have to worry about what market you’re in. Plus, it’s available in English, Spanish and ASL.

For those who are outside of the United and don’t have a good way to watch a live stream of Game 7, you may want to check out a virtual private network (VPN). With a VPN, you can hide your IP address/location and connect to a digital server in the United States. This makes it look as though you’re physically located in the US, allowing you to use location-restricted services such as Fubo, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream or ESPN+.

We recommend NordVPN thanks to its reliability, speed and current sale price, but there are a number of good options out there. You can check out our ranking of the 18 best VPN services for some other choices.

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The Florida Panthers take aim at the first Stanley Cup in franchise history when they face off against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the finals tonight. The Oilers are not only trying to keep their season alive, they're trying to avoid history, as a win for the Panthers would mark the first sweep in the Stanley Cup finals since 1998.

Game 4, potentially the final game of the Stanley Cup, starts soon, at 8 p.m. ET. It will be televised on ABC in the United States, but if you're looking for ways to stream the NHL playoffs without cable, here are some options for watching a live stream of the Panthers vs Oilers. Is there a free Panthers vs Oilers Game 4 live stream?

Just one win away from their 18th title in franchise history, the Boston Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4. After winning the opening three games of the finals, the Celtics are now 15-2 in the playoffs and have won 10 straight. They look truly unstoppable, but if there's one thing you don't want to underestimate, it's Luka Dončić with his back against the wall.

Game 4, which could potentially be the final game of the NBA season, is about to begin, at 8:30 p.m. ET tonight. It'll be on ABC, but if you want to stream the NBA playoffs without cable, here are some easy ways you can watch a live stream of the Celtics vs Mavs. Is There a Free Celtics vs Mavs Game 4 Live Stream?

Before we get to the 2024 Summer Olympics in July, the athletes must qualify in their respective events. Qualifying is done differently across different sports, and many have already booked their spots in Paris, but for others, the most important competition of their lives is about to begin.

In the United States, Olympic qualifying for four major sports are all on the horizon: