i didn't see you there movie review

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Reid Davenport's great film "I Didn't See You There" works on two levels simultaneously. 

First, it's a funny, sharply observed feature-length autobiographical film about what it's like for a disabled man with cerebral palsy to move through a world whose architects barely acknowledge his existence, and whose inhabitants treat him with contempt or condescension when they notice him at all. "The people who gawk at me on the streets remind me of the profound ignorance in the world," he told PBS News Hour . "And I don’t mean to sound preachy, but it really affects my life, and, in turn, I’m sure, affects many other people with disabilities."

Second—and of equal, or possibly greater importance—"I Didn't See You There" is an experimental movie of great beauty. It's filled with images of ordinary objects and situations that have been filmed in such surprising and revealing ways by Davenport that when you encounter them again in your own life, you will see them differently, and think of Davenport's work. 

There are moments when Davenport makes a point to show us how challenging life can be for him. He gets stuck on a commercial jetliner after it's landed. He tries to cross a downtown street where drivers ignore crosswalk lines. In his apartment, he listens to answering machine messages while pouring himself a drink with a shaky hand. (The last message is from the Internal Revenue Service.) 

But for the most part, Davenport simply observes the world around him and reports back, as a poet or painter or street photographer might. He sees things that others don't, and he seems to have his creative antennae constantly extended because he believes there is beauty happening everywhere and he doesn't want to miss any of it. 

Davenport thinks about freak shows and the monetization of difference when a traveling carnival sets up near his apartment. The freak show is no longer much of a presence in modern life, but it still sums up much of the world's attitude toward disability. One of the most striking things about Davenport's filmmaking is the way it pushes against that mentality, not just with spoken or written statements but images and sounds. It insists that Davenport be appreciated as an artist as well as a journalist-advocate. 

The movie begins with a lateral tracking shot, taken from a small camera affixed to the arm of Davenport's wheelchair, showing a subway train at rest in a station as the filmmaker wheels along its length. Davenport's voice-over narration describes how, when a train starts to accelerate and pull away from the station after his wheelchair is moving in the same direction, there's a brief moment when both chair and train are moving at the same speed. Then we see the moment—one that a person without any mobility restrictions would probably never notice—and it lodges in the mind, like an evocative line of poetry that seems tossed-off, yet strikes us in a deep place.

Some of the more adventurous extended sections of the movie link back to early experimental and essay films (" Man With a Movie Camera " and Stan Brakhage's experimental Super 8mm home movies spring to mind at various points) as well as established, artistically-minded filmmakers like Michael Mann ,  Terence Davies , and Terrence Malick . 

Davenport, too, is the kind of artist who will pause or suspend his narrative to let us admire a shot of a beam of light cutting through an otherwise dark room, or fixate on a reflection in a puddle, or point the camera up at the sky as the cameraperson glides and spins, transforming power lines, treetops, and clouds into elements in a moving collage of colors and shapes. A long traveling shot focuses on an iron fence whooshing by as Davenport's wheelchair traverses a city sidewalk. The black bars strobe-flash across the screen, and briefly seem to roll backwards.Another sequence consists mainly of closeups of of the pavement whizzing by underneath Davenport's wheelchair, scored with the sort of percussion track that you'd expect to hear in a film where George Clooney breaks into a vault. The borders of cobblestones and sidewalk stones, the grids of metal grates, the lettering on manhole covers, and the bright yellow, Lego-like plastic protrusions on rubber sidewalks flicker and blur, creating a modest little abstract-experimental film-within-the-film.

Even the title is multilayered. "I Didn't See You There" describes how the world and most of its inhabitants interact with the disabled. But it also describes what it's like to watch and listen to this movie, which is—on top of all its other achievements—a personal statement on the experience of modern urban life, with its distinct perils, aggravations, and unexpected moments of grace that you would never think to notice unless they happened to you personally. There isn't much narration because Davenport lets the images speak for him. 

Now playing in select theaters. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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‘I Didn’t See You There’ Review: A View From His Seat

The filmmaker Reid Davenport, by turns pensive and irritated, takes viewers inside his life as a disabled person through footage shot entirely from his perspective.

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By Nicolas Rapold

In the personal essay film “I Didn’t See You There” the filmmaker, Reid Davenport, makes an extended attempt to fully embody his point of view with the help of kinetic camerawork. As an artist with a disability, Davenport navigates the world in a wheelchair, with verve and little patience for the obstacles others can pose, both physical and ideological.

His trips around Oakland, Calif., and across the country to visit his caring family in Connecticut lead him to reflect on “being looked at and not seen,” as he puts it, as well as on the labor of just going about his business in a world that doesn’t always have his needs in mind. His occasional meditations in voice-over are punctuated by pointed encounters with strangers, from flight attendants to an impressed neighbor, and an energizing percussive soundtrack.

Davenport also dwells on dazzling views of the patterned surfaces — such as colorful pavements and walls — that he rolls past. These suggest a heightened attention to potential hazards, but they also evoke the joyous run-on reels of avant-garde diarists like the filmmaker Jonas Mekas.

Davenport’s circumstances are different, of course. His mobility is often dependent on others, and he keeps the camera off himself, in contrast with the many dramas that turn people with disabilities into passive subjects. When he encounters a circus big top that has been erected in his neighborhood, he laments its galling presence and its associated history of freak shows.

With his feature, Davenport stakes out his own vantage point on the world, one that leaves a viewer wishing to hear his thoughts elaborated even further.

I Didn’t See You There Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 16 minutes. In theaters.

‘I Didn’t See You There’ Review: An Indirect But Affecting First-Person View of Living With Disability

Wheelchair-using docmaker Reid Davenport shows the world from his perspective in a debut feature that is deeply and sometimes opaquely personal.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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After an hour of documenting his view on the world from the seat of his wheelchair in “I Didn’t See You There,” filmmaker Reid Davenport decides he’s had enough of himself. “I hope this is my last personal film,” he says to his mother, having spent the last nine years documenting the struggles and often literal barriers faced by people with disabilities in a series of short films, and encouraging others in his position to do so via his Through My Lens initiative. For most viewers, however, his debut feature will play as an entry point to his work, not a culmination of it. Composed entirely of hand-shot footage from his particular vantage point, it’s an evocative first-hand perspective on the challenges of living as a wheelchair-user in an America that still treats disability as an afterthought — but an elusive reflection of an artist who never really introduces himself to us.

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That sense of distance may cost “I Didn’t See You There” — which wavers aesthetically between candid vérité and more experimental impulses — some interest from distributors following its premiere in Sundance’s U.S. documentary competition, though a long festival life awaits, along with likely exposure on specialist streaming platforms. Viewers with a firmer grounding in Davenport’s story and past work may more easily parse the film’s restless blend of everyday visual diary-keeping, impressionistic sidewalk observation and a thesis on the connection between society’s neglect of the disabled and America’s history of freak-show fascination that, while promising, never goes beyond the ruminative.

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Davenport, it turns out, comes from Bethel, Conn., which also happens to be the birthplace of exploitative circus founder and “greatest showman” P.T. Barnum — a connection that gnaws repeatedly at the filmmaker, who wonders whether he, in another era, might have been one of the “human curiosities” showcased in Barnum’s gaudy novelty theater. (Davenport, whose face never appears on screen beyond the occasional dim reflection in a window, has cerebral palsy, though he leaves viewers to surmise that.) The erection of a circus tent near his new home in Oakland, California, meanwhile, further reminds the filmmaker that while modern society has declared freak shows taboo in name, the same morbid public interest that fueled them has merely been redirected at the different and disabled.

“I feel stared at,” he says, which may be why his camera largely avoids the eyes of any passersby: Instead, it is frequently turned toward the ground, or fixated on details and textures of urban geography, from brick walls to subway tiles. At one point, the lens travels skywards to gaze at a serene blue afternoon, disrupted by tree branches and power cables, and it feels like a brief, oxygenating trip into another realm. But “I Didn’t See You There” doesn’t look up often, and its handful of tart, testy scenes of human interaction with strangers — an impatient public transport aide who too brusquely seats him on a bus, a custodian blocking the ramp to Davenport’s apartment block, even a well-meaning neighbor who offers him a patronising “more power to you” greeting — make it clear why he’d rather avoid contact.

Less vividly conveyed are the fundamentals of Davenport’s life and personality. We gather that he moved to Oakland from Bethel “to become an artist after failing at more conventional career paths,” but the film gives us little sense of how he spends his days and makes his living, while we’re left to guess at what kind of social life (if any) he maintains. Twice in the course of the film he travels to Bethel to visit his family, notably his concerned but good-humored mom who is eager to get him back on the East Coast — but even here, “I Didn’t See You There” provides only oblique hints as to Davenport’s past, and why he may have traveled so far from it. For a film offering most able-bodied viewers a humbling perspective on everyday life, it’s hard not to feel some of the picture is missing.

Still, “I Didn’t See You There” is affecting even when it shuts us out, coming across as the sincere, frustrated expression of someone who’s tired of explaining himself and his position even to a sympathetic audience. “I wonder how many failed job attempts it would have taken for me join the freak show,” he says, returning to the film’s running analogy, “but a cynical part of me wonders if I have joined it.” To this end, he frets that as a documentarian, he has “made a career of my putting myself in front of the camera.” By putting himself strictly and subjectively behind it in his first feature, Davenport has at least protected his body from curious eyes, though his vulnerability still comes through loud and clear.

Reviewed online, Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Documentary Competition), Jan. 24, 2022. Running time: 77 MIN.

• Production: (Documentary) A RePort Media production in association with Breezy Circle, Ajna Films, XTR, Justfilms/Ford Foundation. (World sales: Cinetic Media, New York City.) Producer: Keith Wilson. Executive producers: Alysa Nahmias, Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett, Andy Hsieh, Dawn Bonder, Marci Wiseman.
• Crew: Director, camera: Reid Davenport. Editor: Todd Chandler.
• With: Reid Davenport.

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'I Didn't See You There': A Vérité-Style Documentary on Disability

A fascinating documentary debut by Reid Davenport that qualifies as essential viewing for all.

Directed by Reid Davenport Starring Reid Davenport Genre Documentary Runtime 1h 16m

Winner of the ‘U.S. Documentary: Directing’ award at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Reid Davenport takes viewers on an intimate journey of self-reflection in his documentary I Didn’t See You There . Reid is a disabled filmmaker who uses his strengths as a gifted storyteller to craft simplistic yet undeniably powerful commentary on society’s perception of disabled people. At times the film can be difficult to watch as we witness the ignorant behavior of strangers toward Reid but those moments also serve as a compelling reminder of how much daily acts of kindness and generosity can positively impact someone.

I Didn’t See You There is a vérité-style film that is fully shot from the perspective of Reid, who often rides in his motorized scooter to get from point A to point B. Using a camera mounted to his wheelchair gives audiences an unparalleled perspective on how he views the world, and how the world views him. From his vantage point, we encounter obstacles that most able-bodied commuters take for granted, like stepping over uneven cracks in the pavement or moving around cars that block the crosswalk.

Reid details his struggles to exist in a world that routinely fails to cater to his needs and gives us an uncompromising view of how society treats people with disabilities: spoiler alert, it’s not great. This is not to imply that Reid considers himself a victim, in fact, quite the contrary. While visiting family, he doubles down on chasing his dreams of sustaining a career as a biographical filmmaker. His ambition far exceeds his physical restraints and he is not shy about expressing what’s on his mind. With fearlessness and passion, Reid serves as an inspiration that ultimately leaves the film on an uplifting note.

What makes I Didn’t See You There resonate so much isn’t necessarily in the execution but the emotion it evokes (although it’s sure to stir up feelings of compassion and awareness that audiences will carry with them long after the credits roll). Practically speaking, I’m curious about the decision not to use subtitles, as that would have been beneficial during some of the scenes that are difficult to understand. Overall, however, I Didn’t See You There is a fascinating portrait by Reid Davenport that qualifies as essential viewing.

I Didn’t See You There is coming to VOD on Tuesday, February 20th.

Morgan Rojas

Certified fresh. For disclosure purposes, Morgan currently runs PR at PRETTYBIRD and Ventureland.

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I Didn't See You There Reviews

I Didn’t See You There is the kind of movie you cannot help but enjoy because it makes the personal universal.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 23, 2024

In many ways, I Didn’t See You There feels like his definitive statement and I look forward to seeing what other stories Davenport is hoping to tell.

Full Review | Feb 23, 2024

What makes 'I Didn’t See You There' resonate so deeply isn’t necessarily in the execution but in the emotion that it evokes.

Full Review | Feb 20, 2024

An effective, if fragmentary, look at living with a visible disability, Reid Davenport’s documentary places the camera in the position of the filmmaker’s wheelchair to explore the stigma of being stared at but not seen.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 20, 2024

All in all, this film has spunk, heart and revolutionary charm. I recommend.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2024

...the film may prove challenging to viewers accustomed to more conventional documentaries, but it definitely presents an under-seen, under-considered perspective--one usually discussed more often than shown.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 24, 2023

Despite its rather simple premise and lo-fi technical specs, Davenport’s film is able to mine wells of empathy and poignancy.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2023

I Didn’t See You There breaks many conventions of contemporary documentary... What the film offers viewers is something far more kinetic and compelling.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2023

The film brings up many emotions, from empathy to frustration, as the most ordinary obstacles become life-changing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 15, 2022

It uses the leveling power of cinema to put us in Davenport’s chair and let us experience the insults and indifference he faces.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Oct 31, 2022

Reid Davenport has weaponized the title in so many wise ways — not the least of which is how hard edges of bygone barbarism can be so easily sanded down into a socially acceptable structure we don’t even notice any longer. One of 2022's very best films.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 11, 2022

An important film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 6, 2022

Bold, immersive and unconventional, but concurrently tedious and nauseating. Shaky cam alert.

Full Review | Oct 1, 2022

An experimental movie of great beauty.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 30, 2022

With his feature, Davenport stakes out his own vantage point on the world, one that leaves a viewer wishing to hear his thoughts elaborated even further.

Full Review | Sep 29, 2022

Try walking a mile in my chair

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 2, 2022

I Didn't See You There is a film that practically defines disability pride because Davenport refuses to compromise his disability for the sake of the audience, a bit of poignancy, or unnecessary histrionics.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Aug 29, 2022

While we may get limited insight otherwise, this very first-person missive does provide a vivid and welcome window into the experience of life on another plane of physical access.

Full Review | May 2, 2022

Messy at times and quite raw, "I Didn't See You There" unsettles and disquiets, yet comes together to a peaceful and thoughtful end.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 30, 2022

Davenport recontextualises shaky images or images shot from unusual angles, which might otherwise be considered flaws in cinematography, as an authentic expression of his viewpoint.

Full Review | Mar 15, 2022

I Didn't See You There (2022)

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A Disability Film Unlike Any Other

I Didn’t See You There depicts, with a hypnotic realism, life from the perspective of a disabled person.

Growing up, you might have been told not to stare at the guy in the wheelchair. You were probably taught, more or less, that aggressively averting your eyes when passing a stranger with a physical difference is the “right” thing to do. Most of us—whether we realize it or not—keep up this behavior well into adulthood. Reid Davenport, a disabled filmmaker, leans into this social tension in I Didn’t See You There , an experimental movie narrated by him and shot entirely from his perspective.

The film, which won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival , has had a quiet theater run thus far. It will likely find new audiences on PBS, where it airs tomorrow night and will be available to stream; Davenport may also nab an Oscar nomination in the coming weeks. Part of the film’s future success will hinge on viewers’ willingness to audit their own relationship with disability. An uneasy question permeates the movie: Are able-bodied audience members connecting with Davenport’s day-to-day existence, or are they voyeuristically gawking at it?

I Didn’t See You There breaks many conventions of contemporary documentary. There are no reenactments or expert talking heads; there is no narrative arc. By the time the credits roll, Davenport hasn’t even formally identified his own disability, which is cerebral palsy.

What the film offers viewers is something far more kinetic and compelling. The camera is nearly always in motion: Davenport grips it with one hand and drives his power wheelchair around his neighborhood in Oakland, California (and a few other locations), with the other. We get only fleeting glimpses of him—his reflection in a store window, his hand as he pours himself a cocktail. Rather than seeing him, we’re viewing the world as he observes it, which is to say, from just a few feet off the ground. At times, the movie can feel like a video game, or the famous one-shot restaurant scene in Goodfellas . Davenport points his camera down at the sidewalk as he rolls over cracks and bumps, revealing subtle patterns in the built environment that many people might miss. Sometimes his lens is aimed up at the sky or at the faces of passersby on the street. The result is hypnotic, meditative, rhythmic, and occasionally dizzying.

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We see him navigating the labyrinthine passageways of a BART station, trying to find an elevator. On a bus ride, we witness the driver’s frustration—and the mixed reactions of his fellow passengers—during a squabble over which direction Davenport should face while on board. We feel the indifference of idling motorists and others blocking wheelchair ramps. Sometimes people ask Davenport if he’s okay or offer him help. Throughout, the film features hardly any music—the primary sounds are of Davenport’s motorized chair clicking and clacking over the pavement as he goes about his day.

One of the film’s more memorable sections comes when Davenport visits his hometown of Bethel, Connecticut—also the birthplace of P. T. Barnum, whose name is synonymous with the circus. Davenport uses this detail in tandem with the looming presence of a giant circus tent erected not far from his Oakland apartment to muse over the way disabled people have long been categorized as “freaks.” At his mom’s home, Davenport briefly stops moving his camera. He lets the audience listen in on poignant conversations he has with his mother and his niece. This stylistic shift is both thematic and practical: In areas of the country that lack continuous sidewalks and/or reliable public transportation, Davenport loses his freedom of movement. When he eventually flies back to California, the audience hears a wistful voicemail from his mom: “My goal in life is to get you back on the East Coast.”

A little over a year ago, Davenport left Oakland and moved to Brooklyn, where I live. I first saw I Didn’t See You There in a tiny New York cinema last fall. Just after Christmas, while walking around the park in my neighborhood, I passed a man in a wheelchair and thought I recognized him. I doubled back and sheepishly asked him if his name was Reid. His face lit up. Davenport and I met up for coffee several days after that—he suggested a place with a to-go window where we could sit outside. (Fewer local businesses are wheelchair accessible than you might imagine.)

He told me that neither of his two closest subway stations has elevators; he usually travels more than half a mile to access a train. I asked Davenport whether he found his new neighbors more—or less—accepting of his disability than his old ones. “I love New York because people are too self-involved to give a shit,” he said with a smirk. As an undergraduate at George Washington University, he’d majored in journalism, and he told me he’d experienced significant ableism in the industry—people not calling him back, difficulty getting hired—before going on to pursue an MFA in documentary film. He told me he’s uninterested in attaching a preachy message to his movie. When I clumsily asked him the meaning behind what I’d intuited to be symbolic directorial choices, he gently waved me off. He told me his moviemaking approach is simple: “Film is photography,” he said. “You want to look at beautiful stuff.”

I asked him why people should watch his movie. “I think if you’re disabled, this film was made for you,” he said. “If you’re not disabled, I think the film is an approximation of my perspective.” He went on: “There’s this whole idea of empathy in documentary film—I think empathy is kind of a unicorn, and kind of irrelevant. You don’t need to be empathetic to be considerate. A human being is a human being.” This brought to mind perhaps my favorite moment in the film, when Davenport and a stranger we can’t see have a brief conversation in a public restroom. The man is friendly, telling Davenport that he’s seen him around the area and admires him for just living his life. Davenport reacts kindly but matter-of-factly: “I mean, everyone has their shit, right?” He then rolls right into the next scene.

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I Didn’t See You There

By Benjamin Franz | January 24, 2022

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2022 REVIEW! I have known a few people who suffered the debilitation of palsy. My uncle, Jeff Heinfling, developed a bell’s palsy due to several self-inflicted injuries in his youth. A family friend in Indianapolis, the late, great Jeffrey Frank, experienced a lesser form of cerebral palsy, which impacted his speaking ability, but not his general motor skills. However, both men shared a common trait: they were highly intelligent. You need only work past the garbled form of oral communication to know that. The same is true for Reid Davenport and his deeply insightful documentary  I Didn’t See You There .

A series of vignettes from the perspective of Davenport, the film begs the question, “Do you see me?” This invisibility is a perception often experienced by people who are disabled. Over the course of his career, Davenport has helmed eight such films. In a conversation with his mother, he admits the process has incited him to become increasingly political for disabled people’s rights. One pertinent example: a contractor’s extension cord impeded the filmmaker while going up the ramp to his apartment. The cable is legally not permitted to lay across or before the wheelchair ramp, yet it sits there. In a brief, tense conversation, the contractor tries to gauge if he has 15 minutes to do as he will with the cord. While Davenport assures him that he does, this elicits a moment of completely understandable private venting for the wheelchair-bound man.

I Didn’t See You There  is framed in the context of a red circus big top tent that goes up in the lot near Davenport’s apartment. Throughout the direct experience, he meditates on the nature of circuses, especially their freak shows. The director further contemplates whether he would have been a freak in such a carnival show had he been born in a different era. This is probably partly because PT Barnum and Mr. Davenport both share the same hometown of Bethel, Connecticut.

Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

“…begs the question, ‘Do you see me?’ This invisibility is a perception often experienced by people who are disabled .”

Davenport travels twice to Bethel, and, both times, it’s quite clear the rest of his family misses and loves him, as they are all situated around the town and would like him to come back. Also, one learns why he left. Davenport does not want to rely on others to do anything and wants freedom of movement. Such a thing is best accomplished living in a city like Oakland, CA, where he currently resides.

One of my favorite parts happens at the opening, where the filmmaker illustrates how one could ride the BART – the northern California mass transit system – for free. Then, of course, you run the risk of having a bad experience with a transit cop. However, as that has only happened once to Davenport, he freely admits it hasn’t prevented him from doing it on other occasions.

Shot from the perspective of Reid’s wheelchair, I found  I Didn’t See You There  strongly involving. The vignettes that comprise Reid Davenport’s existence really give you a sense of life from the vantage point of one at a lower elevation than most. It’s life, as usual, just a little different, is all.

I Didn’t See You There   screened at the 2022  Sundance Film Festival .

I Didn't See You There (2022)

Directed: Reid Davenport

Starring: Reid Davenport, etc.

Movie score: 9/10

"…[gives] you a sense of life from the vantage point of one at a lower elevation than most."

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I Didn’t See You There, reviewed: Seeing, and being seen

Feb 19, 2024 | ANTI-MONITOR | 0 comments

by Jarrod Jones . I Didn’t See You There is about movement. Transit. Getting where we need to be and going nowhere in particular. Living. People in the way, always in the way. “Head’s up.” I Didn’t See You There is about perspective: ours, everyone else’s, Reid’s. 

That’s Reid Davenport, a filmmaker based in Oakland, California, whose documentary follows uneventful moments in his otherwise active life. He’s always on the move, hooking up with friends for lunch, going to museums, wending through city streets, soaring across the country to hang out with his family. His camera’s always shooting.

I Didn’t See You There is shot from Davenport’s view, always looking outward, showing us how he sees the world and, more crucially, how people see him. He’s a disabled person, but I Didn’t See You There is less a film about disability than it is the casual, often dismissive perception of it. The strangers seen in this film, when they’re not actively ignoring him, express annoyance, embarrassment, effusive kindness, and sometimes an unclassifiable mixture of the three. One stroll through Oakland results in two random people asking him if he needs help getting around on two occasions. He’s just trying to live, but there’s a spotlight on him wherever he goes. 

Early in the going, Davenport remarks on a recently-erected circus tent, which can be seen from the front door of his building. It reminds him of his hometown: Bethel, Connecticut, home of P.T. Barnum, world-famous purveyor of carnival entertainments and, perhaps more infamously, the sideshow attractions referred to as “freak shows.” Davenport has opinions about Barnum, and his home, where people built a statue in his honor. Most aspiring filmmakers beeline to the West Coast to embrace the creative freedom blunted by their provincial hometowns. Reid moved for personal reasons: to find a place to move around more freely, to get out from under Barnum’s shadow. 

“I think of [Bethel] as a town that wants to be a suburb but is really stuck in purgatory,” he says. On the other hand, Oakland exists in a state of “ethical purgatory.” In the city, Reid has freedom of movement with efficient public transportation and continuous sidewalks, making it one of the few spaces he can live. It’s a compromise that symbolically keeps him in place. So, yeah, he’s very aware of where he can go and where he’s welcome. When the people milling around him are careless with his space or dismissive of it, like people blocking access to a crosswalk with their convertible or some dude who’s obstructed Reid’s entry to his building with a tautly pulled extension cord, it’s maddening to watch. Spare a thought for Reid. 

And he can’t lose it on these people; it wouldn’t be productive, and he’d draw all sorts of unwanted attention to himself, more than he already gets. A lose-lose. So, when we follow him home after witnessing him dealing with careless, dismissive people all day, his anger is cathartic.

Davenport’s not here for sympathy. He’s made his film to get people to be more present when they’re out in the world. Like Fran Lebowitz might say, “Pretend it’s a city.” He’s young, and a regular fellow besides; he screens messages from his parents, unwinds with a drink and a smoke, scans dating apps but doesn’t make a big thing about settling down. He pals around with friends. He probably stays inside his head too often. “I wonder if I feel more than other people,” he says at one point. That’s a normal thing to mull over when the world is made to make you feel alone. 

Reid hits many roadblocks in his film, most of them with embarrassed looks on their faces. Nobody says, “I didn’t see you there” in his movie, but you can imagine he hears it a lot. That non-apology said on autopilot. This obliviousness doesn’t come from rarely considering people in wheelchairs or their disabilities but from how non-disabled people react when they’re confronted by these things. (Usually poorly.) Eons viewing people like Reid like they’re different has conditioned people to treat people like Reid differently. 

Conditioning is hard to break, but I Didn’t See You There is a good place to start. “If this film makes my so-called unique perspective a little more common, a little more nuanced, a little more boring even,” Davenport says in press materials, “Then I will have chipped away at the corrosive legacy of the Freak Show.” 

I want to talk quickly about the look of his film. The way it’s shot, first-person, often at unlikely angles, generates a transcendent buzz when these images are set to the electronic music of Mary Lattimore, Walt McClements, and Troy Herion. At times, the music speeds alongside Davenport, like in one scene where he shows us how he can match pace with a subway train, if for one fleeting moment.

The sounds and images are locomotive. The hum of wheels on pavement, the percussion keeping time, the camera capturing cracks in the sidewalk at a shuttering rate not unlike that of film pulled from a reel, I Didn’t See You There blends abstraction with the realities of its subject. On shooting this way, Davenport tells us, “It allowed me to be more spontaneous and look for shapes and patterns without worrying about meaning and words.” Freedom and significance. Watch out.

I Didn’t See You There will be able to stream on VOD February 20. 

Directed by Reid Davenport. Cinematography by Reid Davenport. Edited by Todd Chandler. Produced by Keith Wilson, Alysa Nahmias, Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett, Andy Hsieh, Dawn Bonder, and Marci Wiseman. 

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Orla Smith / January 24, 2022

I Didn’t See You There shows you the world through a disabled filmmaker’s eyes

Reid Davenport’s personal essay film, I Didn’t See You There, radically questions the way disabled people have historically been presented in the media.

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I n his “Meet the Artist” introduction on the Sundance YouTube channel , documentarian Reid Davenport describes his film I Didn’t See You There as important because “it’s an unapologetically disabled film, in its aesthetics and its seeming unconventionality.” Sundance has a history of programming films explicitly about disability, but often ones that still perpetuate ableism, such as Gleason (2016) , which was about an incredibly privileged disabled man, or CODA (2021) , which centred a non-disabled protagonist. So it was a shock and a delight to find I Didn’t See You There in this year’s programme, a film made by a disabled filmmaker that radically questions the way disabled people have historically been presented in the media. Davenport doesn’t just aim to tell the audience about his experience as a disabled person, but to show us the way he sees the world, using techniques that are rarely implemented on screen.

I Didn’t See You There is, at its core, an essay film, and one that may challenge viewers who aren’t inclined toward more experimental, image-rather-than-story based forms of cinema. As one of those people, I was also challenged by the film, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. The film is essentially made up of short sequences from Davenport’s life, shot by a camera from his point of view, either with him holding the camera, or with the camera attached to his wheelchair. The scenes range from mundane activities like pouring himself a drink, to the long journey of taking an aeroplane to visit home, which involves waiting for accessibility aids to arrive so he’ll be able to exit the plane. Occasionally he will interject with voiceover, or we’ll hear him speaking to someone from behind the camera. The film encourages the viewer to see through Davenport’s eyes and to hear what he hears. The images he presents take a bit of getting used to, because for example, we’re not accustomed to watching film images shot from the height of a wheelchair, or to see the camera shake rapidly as it does when Davenport holds it, as he cannot hold it still.

In voiceover, Davenport discusses how he previously made a film about what it was like to grow up with a disability, which was all about how the world saw him. Now, with I Didn’t See You There , he says he hopes to do the reverse: make a film about how he sees the world. The pitching of a circus tent across the street of his Oakland apartment provides interesting context for the project. The circus, Davenport muses, has traditionally been a place for othered bodies to be gawked at; Davenport reflects on how that dynamic continues today, both in his everyday life (being stared at on the street), and in his filmmaking. (An ironic detail is the fact that P.T. Barnum, who popularised the circus in America, hailed from Davenport’s hometown of Bethel, Connecticut.) Davenport wonders if, by making films about himself, featuring himself, he has chosen a job in which his body is on display in a way he’s uncomfortable with. I Didn’t See You There is an attempted remedy.

Davenport recontextualises shaky images or images shot from unusual angles, which might otherwise be considered flaws in cinematography, as an authentic expression of his viewpoint. These images, and the sounds that accompany them, are also often very beautiful. Davenport includes many sequences of himself travelling around Oakland in his wheelchair, representing the city with an attentive eye and a rich, detail-focused sound design. Particularly enthralling are sequences in which he points the camera at one wheel on his wheelchair so that we can watch the many different textured surfaces the wheel passes over, and listen to their distinctly different sounds. This, I feel, is part of what Davenport means when he calls I Didn’t See You There “an unapologetically disabled film in its aesthetics.” It’s an observational documentary that observes and listens to details and images that are not experienced by non-wheelchair-users. Over seventy-four minutes, we make these observations along with Davenport. On the flip side, we also experience the unwanted gaze of passersby, as well as the feeling of invisibility when Davenport, on multiple occasions, attempts to cross a crosswalk only to be cut off by a car that doesn’t care to notice him. 

While I Didn’t See You There is not a particularly neatly-structured or organised film (not that it necessarily aims to be), it is an essential new text in the evolving conversation about depictions of disability on screen. While incredibly different formally, it feels of a piece with another creative nonfiction film in this year’s Sundance program, the NEXT film Framing Agnes , which discusses trans representation on screen. Both filmmakers, Reid Davenport and Chase Joynt, eschew the trite, conventional, and often offensive ways that the marginalised group they belong to are often portrayed on film. They use experimental nonfiction techniques to open up a conversation about how media depicts disabled people and trans people, respectively.

They also pose questions about the dangers of depicting at all. Framing Agnes proposes that some of the gaps in documented trans history could be viewed as a positive: not being seen might mean that that person was able to live in peace. Conversely, late into I Didn’t See You There , Davenport says, “I hope this will be my last personal film.” He questions the very film he’s making, and how in order to make a living in the creative arts, he’s felt pressured to put his body in the spotlight. Even here, where his body is not visible, it is still at the centre of the conversation. 

Even in a review of the film, like this one, it’s hard not to note how novel Davenport’s direct perspective is as a filmmaker with a disability, because it really is something we rarely see in film. The insights in Davenport’s voiceover made me think about how, even when making a film simply about his individual perspective on the world, Davenport cannot avoid making a film that people will take to be about A Disabled Person’s Perspective writ large, because there are few others films by filmmakers with disabilities to compare his work to. (As a side note, we do recommend Jennifer Brea and Takiya Coley’s Unrest as another must-see example.) 

Davenport, who runs the nonprofit Through My Lens , which aims to amplify the voices of people with disabilities, is evidently passionate about furthering the conversation around disability on film. But that doesn’t mean it’s not exhausting to mine your own life in order to do so. I hope that, if he so wishes, I Didn’t See You There can be Davenport’s last personal film. But I also hope he doesn’t stop making films that break cinematic convention in order to find new ways to tell stories that are rarely told.

We want to make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunities to watch films like Reid Davenport’s I Didn’t See You There at virtual cinemas, VOD, and festivals throughout the year.

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About Orla Smith

Orla Smith is the former Executive Editor of Seventh Row, a regular contributor at The Film Stage , and a freelance writer with bylines at JumpCut Online , Cinema Year Zero , and Girls on Tops . In her free time, she makes movies.

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I didn't see you there.

Directed by Reid Davenport

As a visibly disabled person, filmmaker Reid Davenport is often either the subject of an unwanted gaze — gawked at by strangers — or paradoxically rendered invisible, ignored or dismissed by society. The arrival of a circus tent just outside his apartment prompts him to consider the history and legacy of the freak show, in which individuals who were deemed atypical were put on display for the amusement and shock of a paying public. Contemplating how this relates to his own filmmaking practice, which explicitly foregrounds disability, Davenport sets out to make a film about how he sees the world from his wheelchair without having to be seen himself.

Reid Davenport

Director Director

Producers producers.

Keith Wilson Sasha Leitmann

Editor Editor

Todd Chandler

Cinematography Cinematography

Executive producers exec. producers.

Alysa Nahmias Bryn Mooser Marci Wiseman Kathryn Everett Andy Hsieh Dawn Bonder

Sound Sound

XTR JustFilms / Ford Foundation Ajna Films Breezy Circle Sundance Institute Creative Capital California Humanites The Gotham Film & Media Institute The deNovo Initiative

Documentary

Releases by Date

24 jan 2022, releases by country.

• Digital Sundance Film Festival (Virtual)

72 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by {Todd} ★★★

"Please don't touch me" - Reid Davenport,

- 2022 Ranked: boxd.it/eWNQo - Sundance 2022: boxd.it/f5MjG

Wow, people are condescending as fuck.

Really personal insight into how people with disabilities are treated in America. Reid Davenport creates something unique and special here with his relatively quiet film that gives you the perspective of being in a wheelchair. At times I wish there was a bit more structure and analysis in the film but that is more personal preference.

A unique experience.

Review by Luke Stagg ★★★★★ 7

It takes a lot for a movie to instantly reveal itself to me as perfect. Reid Davenport takes very little time to remind me of the definition of a masterpiece. A man who usually tells his story behind the camera puts himself and his vision front and center. He is too aware of how different his worldview is to most of the population but knows it’s time for the world to be as well. 

Davenport exhausts every possible outlet to convey his message, from eye-level shots of walkways, gates, and people that show deep insight into who he is as a person. The vibrant patterns and colors Davenport gleams from his reality could only be noticed by a true artist.…

Review by Roryyyyyyy ★★★★½

Sundance 2022 movie #5 baby

“It [the circus] made me think about the legacy of the freak show. About being looked at, but not seen”

Man this movie is just so wondrous in an almost child-like way. Reid is a master at using cameras (particularly the motion from his wheelchair) to express a world of emotions and philosophical ideas and experiences. I love how angry certain scenes are. Just fucking beautiful.

Review by 🥥🌴🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🌴🥥🐱 ★★★★ 1

☆ "I'm okay. Please don't touch me. Thank you." ☆

I'm asking for film recommendations to celebrate 2500 followers!! Please contribute!!

Nominated for the small-scale Truer Than Fiction Award at the Independent Spirits, Reid Davenport has a remarkable film that begs viewers to see his point of view no matter how pained and difficult it may be, because it is his reality. In I Didn't See You There – winner of the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at Sundance – one man filmed the world from his level so we may share in his experiences, as that of a young person afflicted with cerebral palsy and watching people watch him.

It's a perfect film to share that point of view, airing on…

Review by Ashwani Kumar ★★★★½

Reid Davenport’s I Didn’t See You There (2022) is a personal document but not ordinarily so. Every story bears its own originality. However, Reid comes with an original perspective. Reid is a filmmaker who utilizes a wheelchair behind the camera and captures the world as he sees it without any aestheticization or polish.

The most important aspect of the documentary is the point of view. Aligned at the vertical height of the filmmaker, and moving in tandem with his mobility, I Didn’t See You There paints a strong political portrait of the society that systematically isolates those who are physically disabled, brands them in accordance with its conventions, exploits them for its benefit and later appropriates them with political correctness but without subverting any institutional design that aggravates their disability.

Read the complete review here.

Review by Jack Russo ★ 3

You might see this rating and mistake me for being ableist, but I'll take solace in knowing that I would never be confused with someone who enjoys award-winning documentaries from Sundance.

Review by Sutton Brown ★★★

Rank Value: 61

Sundance Awards #7 2022 Ranking

I didnt see you there 's unique and frustrating perspective effectively captures the feelings and struggles of a filmmaker dealing with indifference and misunderstanding from others. Davenport's honest and sincere point of view on how the world perceives him offers quite the experience that one wouldnt expect. For me the film works better as a documentation of his struggles than a narrative. The insight can be quite emotional for plenty of viewers, but the direction the film takes doesnt offer a clear path for where the film was heading towards. It mostly feels like individual moments put together that, for me, dont add to the purpose or payoff of the story and character. Though I will say I sympathize with what the director's struggles, I cant say the movie as a whole fully connected with me.

Watch with proper expectations.

🔜 892 (2022) Sundance Awards 🔙 Klondike (2022) Sundance Awards

Review by AIanScott ★★★½

Visceral cinematography; like a mutoscope meets street organ. Lovely stuff

Review by veazey

“Do you see me?”

painterly. peripherally. phallic, even. a lot of bold cinematic choices that left me mind-boggled about what a documentary or film can feel / sound / look like.

Review by Drew Gebhardt ★★★★

Brilliant pieced together with so much attention and care. Thoroughly enjoyed the idea of a documentary that reverts to the most ancient style of filmmaking-observation. 

Ground-shots stole the show for me here, pushing the documentary into an indiscernible feeling as opposing to a collection of images. 

So proud of you Dr.Wilson !

Review by Neal Miller ★★★½

I liked the point of view this film offered, and I found the autobiographical introspection engaging. I wished it had more of a story, and the POV tracking shots made me queasy at certain points. But, overall this was an impressive and unique documentary with something important to say!

Review by Emerson Goo ★★★★★

Every bit the leap in disability aesthetics it's been claimed to be. And as a landscape designer, any movie where like 50% of the shots are of pavement really captures exactly what I look at when I go for a walk. One thing that really stuck with me here is when the camera brushes up against sidewalk plantings, the flowers and leaves colliding with the lens, briefly turning the shot into a flicker film. It's not only a brilliant nod to that tradition of experimental film which uses natural materials directly applied to the film stock but also captures everything it wants to say: about the soft and hard edges of the city, growth and decay, who and what takes up space.

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I Didn't See You There (2022) Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'i didn't see you there' online.

Want to watch ' I Didn't See You There ' in the comfort of your own home? Discovering a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Reid Davenport-directed movie via subscription can be difficult, so we here at Moviefone want to do the heavy lifting. We've listed a number of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'I Didn't See You There' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'I Didn't See You There' right now, here are some particulars about the XTR, JustFilms / Ford Foundation, Ajna Films, Breezy Circle, Sundance Institute, Creative Capital, California Humanites, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, The deNovo Initiative documentary flick. Released January 24th, 2022, 'I Didn't See You There' stars Reid Davenport The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 12 min, and received a user score of (out of 100) on TMDb, which assembled reviews from respected users. Curious to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "As a visibly disabled person, filmmaker Reid Davenport is often either the subject of an unwanted gaze — gawked at by strangers — or paradoxically rendered invisible, ignored or dismissed by society. The arrival of a circus tent just outside his apartment prompts him to consider the history and legacy of the freak show, in which individuals who were deemed atypical were put on display for the amusement and shock of a paying public. Contemplating how this relates to his own filmmaking practice, which explicitly foregrounds disability, Davenport sets out to make a film about how he sees the world from his wheelchair without having to be seen himself." 'I Didn't See You There' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Amazon Video, and Apple iTunes .

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Where ‘rhonj’ left things in season 14’s post- finale special.

Instead of a reunion, Bravo filmed the cast during a watch party where the women were split into two rooms. Was there any resolution this time around?

By Jackie Strause

Jackie Strause

Managing Editor, East Coast

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Well, that’s that.

When The Real Housewives of New Jersey announced that it was foregoing the traditional reunion special and instead would be closing out season 14 with a finale watch special, viewers of the longtime Bravo reality series were wondering how that would play out.

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As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported , the cast screened the season finale while split into rooms based on their alliances. In one room sat Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Rachel Fuda, Danielle Cabral and Jenn Fessler. In the other room were Teresa Giudice, Jennifer Aydin, Jackie Goldschneider and Dolores Catania — with the latter being the only one to visit the opposing room for a brief hello.

Bravo’s cameras were rolling — and the Sirens Media-produced show’s editors were hard at work — as the cast reacted in real time while the episode played out, almost in full. Less than 10 minutes remained of Sunday night’s special by the time the episode ended, and the women were asked to reflect on their regrets and share their final thoughts.

Both in the room and in their one-on-one confessionals, each of the women drew the line deeper in the sand, as they described this moment as being the end for the larger friend group. Gorga flatly said her relationship with Giudice — her estranged sister-in-law — and her family is over, while Cabral said she regretted letting Aydin into her life. Josephs described the finale as being “good vs. evil,” and Goldschneider said things have to change with the show. When Catania signed off, she said, nervously, that she hoped it wasn’t for the last time.

Leading up to this ending, Bravo and  Real Housewives  executive producer  Andy Cohen  had announced that, for the first time ever,  RHONJ  would not be having a reunion . When viewers see the finale, they would understand why, Cohen explained.

The unusual ending to this 14th season has sparked weeks of speculation around whether the RHONJ cast will be getting a reboot or shake-up. Sister series  The Real Housewives of New York City  went through its own recent cast reboot, and  Vanderpump Rules  is currently on a hiatus  following its post-Scandoval season and divisive reunion. But Bravo has not commented on how they plan to handle season 15 — and they likely won’t be commenting soon. Casting discussions don’t typically begin until the current airing season has wrapped.

Cohen also recently said on his SiriusXM radio show that nothing has been decided about the hit Real Housewives city’s future. “We are going to reimagine the show in some way,” he  said . But he did describe this special as being like a series finale, adding , “It’s kind of a soft landing for the show. … It did kind of feel like a series finale, didn’t it?”

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Tim Walz's military record: What to know about potential VP's National Guard service

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a progressive yet plain-spoken VP candidate from America’s heartland to help her win over rural, white voters.

“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate,” Harris said via text to supporters. “Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president.”

We look at Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran, and his military career over the years.

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How long was Walz in the military?

Walz served in the military for 24 years, enlisting in the Nebraska National Guard at 17 in 1981 and then transferring to the Minnesota National Guard in 1996. He retired in 2005 to begin his successful run for the U.S. House, representing Minnesota as command sergeant major, among the highest ranks for enlisted soldiers. His battalion went on to deploy to Iraq shortly after Walz's retirement.

Walz specialized in heavy artillery and had proficiency ribbons in sharpshooting and hand grenades.

But during the 21 years that Walz spent working with large artillery pieces, he suffered hearing loss and tinnitus in both ears, Minnesota Public Radio reported. He was allowed to continue his service after undergoing surgery, which partially resolved his hearing loss.

Where did Walz serve, and what did he do in the National Guard?

During his service, Walz responded to natural disasters, including floods and tornadoes in Minnesota and Nebraska, and was deployed overseas for months at a time, according to MPR.

In 2003, he was sent to Italy, where he served with the European Security Force to support the war in Afghanistan. He was also stationed in Norway for joint training with other NATO militaries.

Walz told MPR that he reenlisted in the National Guard after the September 11 attacks but never saw active combat in his years in the military.

Stars and Stripes reported in 2020 that Walz credited his Army experience with helping him steer Minnesota through the COVID-19 pandemic as governor.

As governor of Minnesota, Walz is commander in chief of the 13,000-soldier Minnesota National Guard. “I’m certainly proud of my military service, but it’s one piece of me,” he told Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. “It doesn’t define me.”

Reuters and USA TODAY reporter Tom Vanden Brook contributed to this story.

'Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba' movie review: Taapsee Pannu returns in a mildly engaging thriller

There is something about a pulpy potboiler that can’t be ignored. It’s not exactly eyeing to be in the annals of great cinema or literature. It succeeds if you turn the page if you keep watching. Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba , the second edition to the 2021 thriller Haseen Dillruba , sheds the prequel’s flab of the small-town comedy and finally owns its mushy, menacing heart. It offers enjoyable cheap thrills till it gets entangled in the web of its own narrative. What begins as engaging increasingly turns into an ambient watch. It becomes dragging and convoluted. You stop caring how they did it, as long as they got away.

Don that backless blouse, stick that rose stem in your hair because dangerous lovers Rani (Taapsee Pannu) and Rishu (Vikrant Massey) are back. The action has now shifted from Jwalapur to a less fictional Agra. Both Rani and Rishu are laying low after the events of the first film. One is suspected of killing, the other of being alive. They cross paths in the cinematic rain, avoiding each other’s eyes more out of fear than longing.

They talk via wireless earphones in a busy market or an isolated garden, like love-struck secret agents. But as always, there is the third man. Sunny Kaushal plays Abhimanyu, a medical compounder who is simping after Rani. He runs after her autorickshaw, holding two mannequin heads (she works at a parlour and forgot them back home. It’s romantic). Red roses in hand, he waits for her outside a movie theatre after buying all tickets for An Action Hero, a forgotten gem from the house of Colour Yellow Productions (the banner behind Hasseen). It really is some love.

The cops, too, aren’t far away. Fresh on the case is Mrityunjay Paswan (Jimmy Shergill), a police inspector with a personal motive. He is the uncle of Neel—the smug hunk played by Harshavardhan Rane in the original film—who was the first victim of Rani and Rishu’s explosive romance. It’s all too convenient, but one plays along, waiting for the smarts, curbing the urge to say, ‘Oh, I know how this is going to pan out’. Written by Kanika Dhillon (Manmarziyaan, Judgementall Hai Kya), the film pretends to be sharper than it is. The dialogues are schmaltzy and at times illogical. “Pyaar do logo mein hota hain, teen logo mein saanp seedi kheli jaati hain (Love is between two people, three can only play a game of snakes and ladders).” A line that seems straight out of a WhatsApp uncle’s guide to polyamory.

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba basks in the pulp aesthetic. A saree-clad woman drenches in the night showers as a man admires her; the same man smiles for a little too long as the woman sits opposite him on a boat, in the middle of a river lurking with crocs. But it all feels merely an exercise in style, since the mystery itself unties rather easily. This time, Taapsee Pannu seems ill-at-ease in the role of Rani. She is lukewarm in expressing the sultriness of a femme fatale. Vikrant Massey, an otherwise convincing actor, has nothing to chew on. Sunny Kaushal’s turn from simp to psycho can be seen from miles away, but he has a wicked streak that is engaging. Jimmy Shergill, on the other hand, plays a cop who is either too involved or absent from the case. There is no middle.

Like in the previous film, the twisted ones in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba take lessons on love, life and murder from the fictional author Dinesh Pandit. I sighed every time a character begins, “Panditji kehte hain...(Panditji says).” The only instance I got up from my chair was when a character slowly walks in as Taapsee’s voiceover gives a biographical account of the pulp author. “Thirty years ago, he was insulted and fired from a police station. Since then, he is taking revenge against cops through his stories,” she says. Sadly, the character wasn’t Dinesh. But what if? A murder in a murder mystery by a murder mystery novelist. Now that would be something.

Movie: Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba

Director: Jayprad Desai

Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Sunny Kaushal, Vikrant Massey, Jimmy Shergill

Streamer: Netflix

Rating : 2.5/5

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