A surrealist descent into identity, memory, and the crushing weight of a lonely life.

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Charlie Kaufman’s 2020 psychological thriller follows a young woman on a trip to meet her boyfriend’s parents, but the narrative quickly fractures. As reality shifts and identities blur, the film weaves together the lives of a couple and an elderly school janitor in a haunting meditation on the human condition.

Adapted from Iain Reid’s 2016 novel, the film centers on a woman whose name and occupation shift throughout the journey. During a tense visit to her boyfriend Jake’s family farm, the boundaries of time and identity dissolve. Jake’s parents age and de-age before the protagonist's eyes, and she discovers unsettling evidence that her own memories and artwork may belong to someone else entirely. The narrative is intercut with the mundane, isolated existence of an elderly janitor working at a high school, eventually revealing that these disparate threads are deeply, inextricably linked.

Kaufman utilizes a tight 4:3 aspect ratio to heighten the sense of claustrophobia and focus. The film is saturated with dream logic, referencing everything from the musical Oklahoma! to the film A Woman Under the Influence. As the story progresses, the protagonist’s interactions with Jake become increasingly surreal, culminating in a final act that abandons traditional structure for a nightmarish, symbolic exploration of regret and aging. The janitor, who serves as a silent observer throughout, eventually takes center stage in a sequence involving hallucinations and a standing ovation for a life lived in the shadows.

Critical reception was largely positive, with an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78/100 score on Metacritic. Critics praised the performances of Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, as well as the cinematography by Łukasz Żal. However, the film remains divisive; some reviewers found its lack of clear answers and surreal symbolism to be a daring, tangible experience, while others criticized its complexity as tedious or overly intellectual. Regardless of the reaction, the film stands as a challenging piece of cinema that refuses to offer easy comfort, ending on a cold, ambiguous note in a snow-covered parking lot.

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