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Although "Stars at Noon" is set in Nicaragua during the very recent past, it's another film by legendary director Claire Denis ("Beau Travail," "High Life") that seems to have been time-warped in from the 1970s or '80s, when tough, smart, languorous, handsomely produced, frankly sexual portraits of fascinating but often unlikable adults got made and seen more than occasionally, and played in art house theaters just big enough to envelop the viewer with images and sounds.

The movie was adapted by Denis and co-writers Andrew Litvack and Léa Mysius from a novel by the late Denis Johnson ( Jesus' Son ). The book was drawn from Johnson trying and failing to become an international political reporter in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the early 1980s. The movie adaptation is typically described in articles and on streaming platforms as an "erotic thriller" or simply "a thriller." But as is so often the case with Denis' films, that's a misleading way to characterize, or even think about, what's actually onscreen, which is more of a vibe than a story, and all the more fascinating because of that choice.

It's anchored by an understated, unstintingly honest performance by Qualley, who plays the heroine, Trish, a twentysomething writer. Trish describes herself as a journalist but apparently hasn't sold a piece in a long time, probably because her last sale was about politically motivated kidnappings and hangings in Nicaragua related to tensions with Costa Rica (the mainstream journalism industry in America isn't much interested in stories like that anymore—and barely ever was). She sells her body for money (and in one case, favorable treatment from a person in authority) and treats her neighborhood as an open-air series of opportunities, helping herself to sample bottles of shampoo from the bathroom of a man she's just slept with, pretending to be a guest at a fancy hotel so she can raid the complimentary breakfast buffet, and filching a roll of toilet paper from the ladies room and hiding it in her purse.

One of her trysts is with a handsome, well-dressed young British man (known only as The Englishman in the source book, but named Daniel here). She clicks with him more than she expected to, considering she met him in a hotel bar an hour before closing. Daniel, played by Joe Alwyn , is as hardbitten as Trish, though naive about politics. Trish is convinced the country is falling into authoritarianism again (the elections keep being postponed and there are men with rifles everywhere), while he insists there are still good, idealistic people in government and things won't go over the brink. On the other hand, he also says he works for an oil company, and Trish finds a handgun in his shaving kit, so who knows what's true about him, or anything?

"Stars at Noon" takes its sweet time even sidling up to the barest hint of a plot; the first half-hour is just about Trish and her world and routine. Somewhere around the halfway mark, Trish sees Daniel having breakfast with a man who she knows to be a Costa Rican cop but represents himself to Daniel as something else. There's a lovely low-speed "chase" after that, with the man following Trish and Daniel in their taxi as rain pounds down on the car's windows and metal frame. Later, they go back to her hotel and there's a long scene that could be considered the essence of "Stars at Noon," in which Trish gives Daniel a little "tour" of her shabby room before they have sex. The camera stays in a fixed position for much of it, moving only slightly to keep the actors in frame, and we're given a rare (for modern cinema) opportunity to just watch people be who they are.

The tactility of the rain in the "chase" scene (it looks to have been spontaneous and real, a thing that happened) is very Denis. She's got her own specific worldview and interests—this film, like a lot of her work, is shaped by her experience growing up in colonial Africa and being aware from an early age of what happens when Western governments and corporations insert themselves into the politics of nonwhite countries. But she's also part of a group of filmmakers (along with such iconic directors as Wong Kar-wai and Michael Mann ) who could be described as "sensualists," because they would rather take a moment to burnish details of the worlds they create or find ways to visually and sonically mirror the characters' emotions than rush from one plot point to the next.

Accordingly, this is not the nail-biting saga of a crusading reporter getting swept up in a conspiracy, or risking death on a battlefield in hopes of winning a Pulitzer, nor is it a hothouse "love in a chaotic place" film with overtones of a thriller or spy picture, like " The Constant Gardener ," " Under Fire ," " The Quiet American ," or " The Year of Living Dangerously ." Denis didn't have the budget for that sort of thing anyway, much less to set the story in the '80s. So she set it in the present, updated the political and atmospheric details, and let the Covid-19 precautions that her crew experienced on location become part of the texture.

The result is a contemporary character study of a young American woman hustling in a foreign land. Trish is smart, cynical, and tenacious, in the manner of a grifter dame in an old Hollywood drama. When Daniel tells her she's drunk, she says, "Would I be sitting her with you if I were even the littlest bit sober?," a line that could have been snapped off by the young Bette Davis . But she is also broken and drifting towards oblivion. And so is he.

This is a film about immature, brittle-souled, eloquent people who drink and have sex and move through real places and occasionally stop to savor them. It clocks in at two hours and seventeen minutes, and the pace is such that you could imagine an impatient viewer complaining, "Why do we need three minutes of the couple being flirty in a hotel room?" or "Why do we watch Trish walk slowly down a street, and why doesn't the director cut when she leaves the frame, instead of hanging onto the shot a bit longer to watch the stray cat crossing in the background?" That stray cat might be the key to appreciating what makes Denis special. Most of the characters in this film are stray cats, and she likes watching them do their thing.

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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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Film credits.

Stars at Noon (2022)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and some violence.

135 minutes

Margaret Qualley as Trish

Joe Alwyn as Daniel

Benny Safdie as CIA Man

John C. Reilly as American Boss

Danny Ramirez as Costa Rican Cop

Claire Denis

Writer (novel)

Denis Johnson
Andrew Litvack

Cinematographer

Eric Gautier
Guy Lecorne
Tindersticks

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Are the Characters in Stars at Noon Unbearable or Just Unbearably Hot?

Margaret Qualley’s character in Stars at Noon has to smell absolutely terrible. Her name is Trish, and she’s a journalist — or at least tried to be one for a while. When Claire Denis’s film — the great French filmmaker’s second to hit U.S. theaters this year — begins, Trish has shifted her focus to another form of freelancing: resentfully engaging in sex work in exchange for cash and the ability to hold on to the press pass providing her a nominal shield in a tumultuous Nicaragua. Trish jokes about how badly she needs to buy shampoo, but after hours drifting around Managua in the sticky heat and into the beds of two different men, she crawls into her own in a bare-bones hotel without bothering to shower or change — as if there were no point in washing off the sweat, fluids, and rum when she was just going to do it all again in a few hours. She takes a perverse satisfaction in her own degradation, as though by drinking her meals, going pointedly unwashed, and offering herself up for $50, she’s going to somehow make everyone involved in putting her in her increasingly desperate situation sorry.

The joke’s on her, though — everyone around Trish has more pressing concerns than the well-being of an alternately cynical and childish American girl who has gotten herself stuck in another country, and anyway, the squalor tourism only seems to be making her more beautiful. “Perverse” is a good overall description for Stars at Noon , a hypnotic but relentlessly disconcerting movie and never more so than in the way that Denis frames Qualley like an influencer on a sponsored trip — the humidity making her skin glow and her mane of curls wilder, the drooping sundress showcasing the doelike length of her limbs as she shucks off her battered huaraches and saunters barefoot through the streets at dawn. Trish may be without her passport and short on the funds to buy a plane ticket out of the country, but her foreignness, however shopworn, seems to light her from within. When she meets Daniel (Joe Alwyn), an enigmatic British businessman with a flop of blond hair and the rakish beginnings of a beard, the two fall into each other’s arms like a pair of exotic animals who’ve been matched up together at a zoo — their mating preordained.

Stars at Noon is a film about half-aware white people fucking themselves silly while trying to get out of Central America, and it never quite settles on whether this is unbearable or just unbearably hot. Denis has long held an interest in colonialism and the violent reverberations of occupation, and Stars at Noon is, like Chocolat and White Material , about the liminal space occupied (and the unsteady power wielded) by white expats. But it’s also about the headiness of being an outsider basking in borrowed oppression while never expecting to be subjected to it oneself — an ugly privilege it’s bewildering to see so helplessly romanticized, as though it were impossible to resist. While adapted from a 1986 novel by Denis Johnson that was set during the Nicaraguan Revolution, the film takes place in the present day and doesn’t update the political situation so much as push it out of focus and into the background. Like White Material , which is set in an unspecified African nation, Stars at Noon essentially genericizes its turmoil in order to stress that it’s the result of a continuing pattern of western interference — an erasure done in the name of a progressive perspective.

That’s a choice that feels queasier in this context — in a film that is so unmoored from any ethical grounding that Trish’s and Daniel’s motivations are opaque to the point that, when Daniel finds himself getting tracked by a Costa Rican cop (Danny Ramirez) and jovial CIA agent (a cheerily sinister Benny Safdie), it’s unclear what he did or why Trish decides to stick by him. (Not that either comes across as especially savvy in the first place.) This vertiginous quality is by design, corresponding to the sense that Daniel and Trish are spinning out into space; whatever lives they left behind are incidental.

Alwyn, introduced as a sentient pair of weepy blue eyes in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk , has yet to be cast in a role he fully occupies, though he comes close here as a man who embodies dissociation, whom Trish calls so white, “It’s like being fucked by a cloud.” He and Qualley don’t have much by way of chemistry, but that doesn’t matter — the characters’ circumstances, rather than any pheromonal pull, are at the heart of their delirious connection.

They make life hell for just about everyone they encounter as they flee for the border, and yet, as they doze in a tangle of limbs in a motel room while rain rattles against the rooftop, or share a desperate clinch on an empty dance floor in lush mood lighting, it’s easy to be seduced. All that’s missing is the scene in which one or both of them wake up, jet-lagged, to their plane landing them back on their home turf — all of those other people’s problems dissolving like a dream.

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Stars at Noon Reviews

Moody, steamy, ambiguous [...] Denis’s latest is not the tour de force her breakthrough film was, yet it is made of the same elusive material, inhabiting a volatile liminal space, oozing sensual honesty.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 30, 2023

Claire Denis dominates the balance of tenderness and civil restlessness in Stars at Noon, a sweaty and dreamlike political thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2023

As is expected in clandestine intrigues, the plot is confusing, but in this case, it doesn't result in a compelling experience. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 26, 2023

Margaret Qualley is lively and engaging, but Stars At Noon is let down by a wearingly meandering plot and lacklustre chemistry.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 26, 2023

Mysterious, opaque, probably worth revisiting down the road… a classic Claire Denis movie then.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 23, 2023

Stars at Noon's atmosphere is brilliantly conveyed... we can feel the unsettling sticky heat radiate off the screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 22, 2023

The drama becomes more languid and the story more opaque, with Denis’ disdain for thriller conventions meaning she avoids the usual clichés but neglects to replace them with anything more interesting.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 20, 2023

Stars At Noon is a missed opportunity, a film lacking in conflict and lethargic in nature.

Playing out in cheap motels with sweating walls, it’s a languid mood piece rather than a thriller, but one that leaves a sense of discomfort that creeps over the skin like a heat rash.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 18, 2023

The movie has the feel of the kind of sensual thriller that a generation ago might have played late on Sunday night TV.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 15, 2023

Like everything in Stars at Noon, a film so fully realized in its flawless final form as to seem deceptively easy, the pandemic is simply there because it’s there.

Full Review | Apr 27, 2023

Playing their parts with the requisite spark, Qualley and Alwyn melt stickily into each other, and viewers watching take their lead with the movie.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2023

It's two people in a complicated world that's glossed over so their lust takes the spotlight. A tease of intrigue fizzling out every time we fool ourselves into believing a payoff may yet arrive.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jan 20, 2023

Margaret Qualley shines in this spellbinding and steamy story that functions as a sociopolitical metaphor. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 31, 2022

One needs to become completely immersed in this feverish, grimy, tropical love story, or else Denis’s style will be a recipe for frustration.

Full Review | Dec 31, 2022

Trish marks a tremendous performance for Qualley, who, in the role, captures all the complexities of the character. She carries that very specific kind of undefined ambition.

Full Review | Dec 23, 2022

Despite the sex, the violent backdrop of political corruption, and a moody jazz score, it runs out of things to say before the final scenes

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2022

With closely measured pacing, Denis grounds the film with a terrific, earthy performance from Qualley... Those familiar with her humanist style will relish the skill with which Denis develops the relationship between these two lost souls.

The leading actors, who give it their all, do their best with the very sketchy characters they’re given.

Claire Denis is a director to watch, but her hot young stars barely raise a smoulder.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 1, 2022

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‘Stars at Noon’ Review: Claire Denis’ Sweaty Romantic Thriller Shines Bright

David ehrlich.

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Claire Denis may have fallen in love with Margaret Qualley because of her coltish and carefree performance as one of the Manson girls in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, yet I can’t help but suspect that — if only subconsciously — there may be another reason why she decided to cast the young actress in the lead role of “ Stars at Noon .”

Like so many of Denis’ films (“Beau Travail,” “Trouble Every Day”), this sweaty romantic thriller about two white foreigners who fall in love (or at least fuck a lot) against the background of Central American political tensions is a cryptic and carnal search for a way out of purgatory. And like so many of Denis’ films, the incandescent “Stars at Noon” is cut with such jagged atemporality that it often seems set in a space between time, where the past never happened and the future may never come.

In this case, that dislocated feeling stems from the decision to update Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel of the same name from the Nicaraguan Revolution to now; from the start of Daniel Ortega’s first term in office to the cusp of his fourth; from Contras to COVID. Nothing changes, and nothing stays the same. More amorous than “High Life,” more ambitious than “Friday Night,” and arguably more accessible to mainstream American audiences than anything else she’s ever made (if only just), “Stars at Noon” is the closest that Denis’ spin on “Groundhog Day” has come to resembling the real thing. And there’s Qualley, adrift in the flowing Andie MacDowell hair she inherited from her mother, desperately flailing around for anyone who might be able to help her watch the sun come up tomorrow. It’s déjà vu all over again.

Which isn’t to suggest that “Stars at Noon” doesn’t show us anything we haven’t already seen before — there’s nothing “same old same old” about Claire Denis riffing on “The Year of Living Dangerously.” Even if politically tinged exotic romances hadn’t been so hard to find during all the years since, this sordid tale of beautiful people on the brink of self-destruction would still continue to stand out for the dissonant energies, sensual rhythms, and prickly encounters that shape Denis’ search for mutual aid in a mercenary world.

Qualley plays Trish, just about the last person you’d expect to find stranded in a volatile Central American country during the weeks leading up to a high-stakes election. For one thing, her name is Trish. For another, she combines the cagey resourcefulness of a veteran war reporter with the too-drunk-to-wear-shoes-on-the-walk-home spirit of a college girl who got a little carried away on spring break, constantly defying your efforts to assign her an archetype. She’s caustic enough to scream colonialist threats at random strangers when she gets upset (“American tanks are going to come and crush your country!”), but also hides a childlike helplessness behind an N95-strength mask of “fuck both sides” cynicism. She faintly smells of privilege, yet she’s so incapable of paying her own way out of the country that she’s begun selling her body to some of the most powerful military leaders in town. One killer detail in a film that’s full of them: The first time we see Trish’s motel, there’s a guy sprawled out on a couch by the door, holding a cardboard sign that says “No WiFi.”

Claire Denis is never much for context, but the implication that Trish was a hard-news journalist who ran afoul of the government is just as believable as the other, rival implication that she’s a travel blogger who got bored of writing about howler monkeys at Costa Rican spa resorts. (Much to the chagrin of an unamused John C. Reilly, who earns a rare “with the participation of” credit in his one-scene cameo as a heartless editor.) Whatever the case, Trish has clearly resigned herself to a life of transactional relationships, and the exchange rate for Nicaraguan Córdobas is so bad that she offers — almost pleads with — a handsome British man she meets at the bar of the Intercontinental to have sex with her for $50 USD, a few hours of A/C, and a roll of stolen toilet paper. Anything so that she can keep telling herself she’ll get out of this place “tomorrow or the day after.”

According to Trish, oil consultant Daniel is so white that sleeping with him is “like being fucked by a cloud.” Originally written to describe Robert Pattinson, who dropped out of the movie due to scheduling issues with “The Batman,” that line now lands on a bearded and blue-eyed Joe Alwyn , whose natural recessiveness suits a role defined by its cool-headed stability. Daniel is married, but used to cheating. He’s harmless, but lies to Trish about the gun he keeps in the bathroom. He’s fatally good-mannered, but prone to expressing his lust with all the eloquence of a Google-translated Pornhub comment (the words “suck me” have never been delivered with such direct sincerity).

Denis, Andrew Litvack, and Léa Mysius’ dialogue is only strengthened by its occasional awkwardness, as it subsumes Trish and Daniel into the same disordered humidity that swamps the film around them. The frequent sex scenes become a dialogue of their own — the lovers feeling each other out in search of something they can actually trust.

Whatever they discover is expressed through Denis’ typically elliptical approach to intimacy, which often implies touch immortalizes tenderness. One cut — which casually jumps from Trish lamenting her period to a shot of Daniel with blood all over his fingers and neck — offers particularly visceral proof of Denis’ ability to depict physicality through absence.

Elsewhere, a slow-dance set to a swooningly gorgeous new song by Tindersticks frontman Stuart Staples is almost heart-stopping enough to compete with the “Nightshift” scene from “35 Shots of Rum” (nothing can or ever will, but Denis is at least her own best imitator). It’s the cherry on top of a surprisingly warm score that often sounds like it’s waiting for permission to burst into Annie Lennox’s “No More ‘I Love You’s,’” as the first half of “Stars at Noon” finds enough flustered hope amid the apathy of political theater that you almost want to believe in it, just as Trish and Daniel almost believe in each other.

The second half of the film, in which our couple is forced to make a run for the border after their affair lands them both in hot water, grows oblique and distended by CIA gamesmanship in a way that will delight hardcore Denis fans and frustrate anyone expecting a more straightforward resolution to the movie’s central romance. Neither camp should have a problem with Benny Safdie dropping in as a mysterious American with good beans and bad motives. If the fuzzy sense of danger can have an emotionally distancing effect, the uncertainty that lingers behind helps fix “Stars at Noon” to the shaky ground the movie needs to feel beneath its feet in order for its characters to question if they’ll ever be able to find their balance. “Please keep me,” Trish pleads with Daniel after they collapse in yet another sweaty heap that never seems to dry. But in the films of Claire Denis, everyone is living on borrowed time.

“Stars at Noon” premiered in Competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release it in the United States.

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Review: Claire Denis’ erotic thriller ‘Stars at Noon’ emits the sweat smell of sexcess

Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in the movie "Stars at Noon."

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Few filmmakers can evoke, as fully as Claire Denis does, the intoxication and menace of feeling cast adrift in a world where you don’t belong. Think of the French coffee-plantation owner in “White Material,” clinging desperately to the war-torn African country she’s claimed as her own, even as it tries to expel her like a deadly virus. Or think of the solitary man of mystery wandering the globe and trying to stave off his own mortality in “The Intruder,” a title that could easily sum up this filmmaker’s own adventurous, boundary-defying spirit.

I flashed on both those movies in between all the hot sex, cool liquor and lukewarm longueurs of “Stars at Noon,” Denis’ 15th feature and a co-winner of the Grand Prix at the recent Cannes Film Festival. Adapted from “The Stars at Noon,” Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel of almost the same title, it’s nominally a political thriller, marbled with sweaty erotic interludes, a few listless chase sequences and a quasi-Beckettian streak of existential aimlessness. It isn’t one of her better movies, but like even her lesser achievements, it warrants more than easy dismissals. It’s a fascinating confluence of talent and tedium; it’s also a story in which tedium — the day-after-day frustration of a stalled, thwarted existence — may well be the point.

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That story centers on a young American journalist named Trish (Margaret Qualley, an impudent firecracker), who’s sweating it out in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. Once she must have arrived here on a tide of youthful muckraking idealism, eager to see and maybe change the world. Now she drifts between random bars and random beds, subsisting on a rum-based diet and having sex with any man for a fistful of córdobas. Trish just wants a Coke, a shampoo and a plane ticket home, all eminently reasonable if not-so-easily realizable goals. She hasn’t written a piece in ages, having burned one editor too many (John C. Reilly has a hilarious Zoom cameo as one of them). She’s also had her passport confiscated by the Nicaraguan government, which doesn’t care for her coverage of local unrest.

You won’t learn too much about that unrest in “Stars at Noon,” apart from a few vague references to kidnappings and election woes, a delectable late-breaking turn by Benny Safdie as a CIA man, and many shots of armed soldiers patrolling streets and corridors plastered with protest signs (“ No mas abuso de poder / No more abuse of power”). The political specifics don’t seem to interest Denis terribly much, which may account for why she and her co-writer, Andrew Litvack, have shifted Johnson’s story from its original 1984 Nicaraguan Revolution setting to roughly the present day — something the movie quickly signals by having Trish compulsively don and drop a face mask as she hustles and bustles and hustles some more.

And so “Stars at Noon” is, among other things, a COVID movie, as was Denis’ earlier picture from this year, the shattering French melodrama “Both Sides of the Blade.” Her narrative accommodation of mid-pandemic protocols is just another reminder that Denis doesn’t do easy escapism, that even her most transporting fictions have trouble untethering themselves from the real world. No one tests positive in “Stars at Noon,” though I suspect the quarantined version of this movie wouldn’t look all that different. It would probably still involve Trish spending hours holed up in her dumpy motel room, having sweaty (but phlegmier) sex with the handsome fellow traveler who might prove her salvation or her undoing.

Joe Alwyn, left, and Margaret Qualley in "Stars at Noon."

That would be Daniel (Joe Alwyn), a white-suited Englishman with a seductive gaze, fetching whiskers and an agreeable air of mischief. He operates with mysterious motives — he works for an oil conglomerate with vague interests in the region — though there’s nothing especially mysterious about his desire for Trish, or Trish’s willingness to reciprocate. If no one understands cultural and geographical dislocation better than Denis, it’s also true that no one films sexual congress with the same palpable, thoroughly unself-conscious heat. And I do mean heat, the kind that drenches; “Stars at Noon” may not be a great movie, but it is one of the great recent achievements in perspirational cinema. As these two beauties thrash and rut and moan, Trish clasping Daniel so hard that she leaves red hand-prints on his pale skin, their couplings seem to obliterate all else, including the thinly sketched tensions and conflicts unfolding just outside their window.

In effect, “Stars at Noon” plays like a more narratively unruly version of a movie like Peter Weir’s “The Year of Living Dangerously,” with its foreign-correspondent intrigue and its drive-by view of local turmoil. Denis, who’s spent much of her career thinking about and dismantling the white colonialist gaze, may have actually made the more honest movie, insofar as “Stars at Noon” doesn’t feign any more political concern or consciousness than its feckless lead characters do. There’s maybe a sliver of wry commentary in the half-patient, half-weary looks that Trish gets when she barks orders at the bartenders who pour her martinis and the cab drivers who ferry her down alternately steaming and rain-drenched streets. She’s a beautiful woman and a decidedly ugly American, and the movie seems by turns fascinated, appalled and electrified by Qualley’s mercurial performance.

Trish is drunk on her own sense of unbelonging; as a movie character, she’s fully, insistently and exasperatingly alive. Daniel is another story, and while you can buy their mutual and tirelessly consummated attraction, you can’t quite believe that Trish would follow him into the frenzied, blood-spattered but weirdly tension-free chaos of this movie’s third act. But then, Denis’ skill as a filmmaker has often rested, to some degree, on her oblique story construction and her prioritization of mood. Given how effectively and sometimes brilliantly she takes the narrative road less traveled, it’s no surprise that the thriller mechanics of “Stars at Noon” are what feel the most perfunctory.

The movie’s most overpowering moment is simply that, a moment, stolen from the flow of time and disconnected from the others. Pausing during one of their mad dashes to nowhere, Trish and Daniel cling to each other on an empty dance floor, gorgeously bathed in purple light and backed by a haunting original title tune by the band Tindersticks. Dance scenes are perhaps a too-easy sweet spot for Denis by now, but there’s no mistaking her feel for entangled bodies and swaying rhythms, or her ability to forge powerful emotional connections out of almost nothing. It may be the most seductive of lies, but for one fleeting, fugitive instance, Trish is right where she’s supposed to be.

‘Stars at Noon’

In English and Spanish with English subtitles Rated: R, for sexual content, nudity, language and some violence Running time: 2 hours, 16 minutes Playing: Starts Oct. 14, Alamo Drafthouse, downtown Los Angeles; Laemmle Monica, Santa Monica; Laemmle Glendale; Harkins Chino Hills; Regency Agoura Hills; Regency Laguna Niguel; available Oct. 28 on Hulu

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Margaret Qualley in Claire Denis’s Stars at Noon.

Stars at Noon review – edgy expat drama from Claire Denis

A broke young American woman in Nicaragua gets together with a suave Englishman in the veteran French director’s unsettling mood piece

F ew directors capture the unnerving, unmoored state of being an expat as effectively as Claire Denis . Disengaged from their roots, her shiftless wanderers and opportunists are drawn to unaccustomed behaviours – obsessive, reckless, self-destructive impulses that marinade unchecked while her characters focus on the business of being an outsider in a strange land. It’s true of Chocolat , her debut film; of Beau Travail and of White Material , all of which unfold in Africa. To a certain extent, it applies to her sci-fi picture High Life . And she returns to the expat experience with her latest film, Stars at Noon , set in present-day Nicaragua and adapted from Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel.

At the grubby heart of the story is Trish (Margaret Qualley, excellent), a young American woman who arrived in the country with a press card and professional ambitions that were swiftly eroded, along with her supply of dollars. By the time we meet her, she’s in survival mode, turning tricks for black market currency and favours. When she meets Dan (Joe Alwyn), a suave Englishman who says he works for an oil company, she is initially attracted to his urbane confidence and his ready supply of dollars. But a love affair grows – an intense but circumstantial passion, embraced in the same way as alcohol, to block out the mounting threats from men with knife-like smiles and guns.

Playing out in cheap motels with sweating walls, it’s a languid mood piece rather than a thriller, but one that leaves a sense of discomfort that creeps over the skin like a heat rash.

Released on 19 June in the UK on digital platforms.

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Review: Margaret Qualley shines bright in ‘Stars at Noon’

Esteemed French director Claire Denis’ latest film, “Stars at Noon,” was selected for the 60th New York Film Festival and released in theaters on Oct. 14. The film is now playing at select theaters across the city and in the Francesca Beale Theater at Lincoln Center for the festival through Oct. 27.

A+close-up+photograph+of+a+man+with+blond%2C+wavy+hair+holding+the+face+of+a+woman+with+brown+hair.

A still from Claire Denis’s latest film, “Stars at Noon.” (Courtesy of A24)

Olivia Olson , Contributing Writer October 24, 2022

Sensory-based director Claire Denis has created a film that produces a humid heat palpable through the screen. Full of passion and peril, Denis’s film “Stars at Noon” presents a romantic thriller that requires a particular taste, as it tends to focus on nuance over narrative. The film, shot in Panama and set in Nicaragua, is adapted from the late Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel of the same name, and takes the source material and shapes it for a modern audience.

Modifying Johnson’s setting from 1984 during the Nicaraguan Revolution to a pandemic-era present, Denis’ film follows Trish (Margaret Qualley), a tenacious American journalist who finds herself stranded in Central America amid political turmoil. Trish survives in Nicaragua as a sex worker, hoping to accumulate enough money for a passport and plane ticket back to the United States. Despite her efforts to leave, she remains relatively stagnant until she meets Daniel (Joe Alwyn), an enigmatic Englishman who she believes to be her way out of the dire situation. Trish acquaints herself with Daniel only to discover that he is in much more trouble than she is.

Trish and Daniel find themselves drawn to one another through necessity, which rapidly evolves into a romantic connection. Subsequently faced with further difficulty, the pair keeps each other close and attempts to flee Nicaragua, facing danger and obstacles around every corner.

“Stars at Noon” is certainly not to everyone’s taste. The plot develops at a slow pace, proving its strengths lie in the cinematography and direction. The film’s dialogue is often succinct — with a few humorous exceptions — and focuses on conveying emotion and sense through nuances rather than storytelling. The same can be said for the decisive camera shots, which favor raw expression.

Although the delicate camera work and selective dialogue enhance the romance of the story, Qualley and Alwyn lacked chemistry, with the exception of their banter, leaving a question unanswered of whether their romance buds due to dire circumstances or a true connection. Still, there is plenty of passion and emotion packed into this just over two-hour film, as the overall framing plays with the senses in a subtle, yet evocative way.

Despite the lackluster chemistry between Trish and Daniel, Qualley delivers a brilliant performance as the lead character. She portrays Trish as a playful, captivating and wisecracking character full of wide smiles, despite her desperate measures. Reinforcing herself as a name to be remembered, Qualley’s genuine and personal performance showcases her at her most vulnerable.

Alwyn, as the stoic, suave Englishman, provides steady support to Qualley’s lead, but he doesn’t particularly stand out on his own. Benny Safdie provides comic relief with his cameo as a CIA man whose appearance in the final quarter of the film is so unexpected, it quantifies as an entirely humorous jump scare.

The soundtrack of the film, created by the English rock band Tindersticks — a past collaborator of Denis’ — provides ample accompaniment to the overall aura-producing lush, ambient sounds that mirror the sensuous romance the film strives to establish. The title track, “Stars at Noon,” uses steady drums, dreamy synths, low vocals and an expressive horn part to elevate an intimate scene of Trish and Daniel slow-dancing. For the bulk of the film, Tindersticks’s soundtrack provides a relaxed sound to balance out the danger that the plot kindles.

“Stars at Noon” asserts itself as a romantic thriller meant to be savored with active attention. If you are a patient fan of the aforementioned genre, enjoy Denis’ sensory-based direction, or if you wish to see Qualley’s remarkable acting chops in a central role, “Stars at Noon’ is worth the watch.

Contact Olivia Olson at [email protected] .

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Stars at Noon Review: An Abstract Sweaty Romance

Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn fall in dangerous love in Claire Denis' new film Stars at Noon, a romance set during political turmoil in Nicaragua.

Claire Denis has made a career for herself in the arthouse community as a daring director, a frequent provocateur who has consistently attacked colonialism, societal customs, and sexism in her work. Taking French cinema by storm, her career progressed through experimental dramas ( Beau Travail ), artistic, gory horror ( Trouble Every Day ), and searing social commentary ( White Material ) before her recent English-language debut , High Life . That bleak, beautiful film starred Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, and André Benjamin and announced Denis to the international community in a mainstream way for perhaps the first time.

Now she's back with another English-language film, Stars at Noon , based on the beloved, belated Denis Johnson's novel of the same name. This time around, instead of Pattinson, Denis has teamed up with perhaps the next Kristen Stewart — Margaret Qualley. The actress has gained recognition for her phenomenal work in the vastly underrated HBO show The Leftovers , the wonderful film The Nice Guys , and the hit Netflix drama Maid , but it's Stars at Noon which announces her as the next major talent. She's absolutely magnetic here as a journalist-turned-prostitute trying to get out of Nicaragua at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. When she falls in love with a customer, she digs herself deeper and deeper into a dangerous hole.

Stars at Noon competed for the coveted Palme d'Or at the recent Cannes Film Festival, ultimately winning the Grand Prix (the second-highest award). Her film is now making its North American premiere at the 60th New York Film Festival, where it continues to be divisive.

Stars at Noon is About Love in the Abstract

Stars at Noon may be Denis' most accessible film yet, furthering her trajectory toward recognition outside the festival circuit. This is not to say that the film is some compromise between the arthouse and the mainstream; while Stars at Noon may sometimes seem like a dimestore paperback, some predictable romance story that matches its exoticism with eroticism, the film is much more than that. The film is abstract, sometimes frustratingly vague, and like most Denis films, it is resolutely sexual, political, and mysterious.

Stars at Noon follows the young journalist Trish, who seems less interested in the investigative profession than she is in getting drunk and sleeping with whoever can help her. Denis studies her throughout her sex work, filling the frame in a subjective way to position the film from Trish's perspective. She meets the handsome British gentlemen Daniel at a hotel bar and plies her trade as usual, though there is a spark present between them that is decidedly absent from her encounters with other men. Daniel might be her ticket out of Nicaragua, or maybe he's just the love of her life; intentions are often hard to decipher in this impressionistic film.

Related: The Best Claire Denis Films, Ranked

Denis expertly uses Daniel's scratch marks and the fresh redness of his recently gripped back skin to indicate Trish's desire here. In the Nicaraguan heat, the two sweat well together, and Stars at Noon manages to be sexy without ever feeling creepy or exploitative. The red marks on Daniel's back, blood having rushed to the skin's surface as if to reach out and touch the touch itself, is one of many examples of Denis closely following the 'show, don't tell' rule. This usually works in her favor, here and elsewhere. The subtleties and quiet distance keeps Stars at Noon from feeling like some R-rated Eat, Pray, Love: Nicaraguan Edition .

Stars at Noon is Mysteriously Timeless and Current

However, this method and refusal of explanation sometimes makes Stars at Noon feel inexplicable, messy, and impenetrable (despite the penetration on display). Occasionally, events in the narrative and certain characters' motivations seem foggy at best and confusing at worst. This sporadic confusion feels obscurantist, as if Denis is nearly afraid of how accessible her film is, prompting her to enshroud the film with unnecessary mystery at times. It's as if Denis filmed a normal political thriller with waves of sensuality, but then randomly cut scenes from it.

Usually, though, the mystery works well in Stars at Noon . There's an abstract paranoia to the film that's more unnerving by its lack of concrete explanation; the original novel took place during the Nicaraguan revolution of the '80s, but Denis' film feels somehow extremely current (what with the mask-wearing populace and narrative use of vaccinations and Covid testing) and timeless (with the images of an armed military presence and covert Western interests feeling practically eternal). Of course, just like love and heartbreak, political turmoil is both current and timeless; the recent fraudulent elections in Nicaragua are reminiscent of centuries of political corruption around the world.

While it is abstract, a general plot emerges against the backdrop of their love affair — Daniel is a married man involved in some shady business dealings, and is a target of both Costa Rican and American authorities; Trish is determined to leave the country and return home to America. The two are entangled in a web of political intrigue, as Trish attempts to keep Daniel safe while both the CIA and Costa Rican police pursue him, though she can't help herself when it comes to rum and sarcasm.

Margaret Qualley is an Amazing Muse for Claire Denis

The aforementioned performance from Qualley is the showstopper here, a fireball of intense energy who lights up every scene and burns the screen. Looking like a young Andie MacDowell (her mother), the curly-haired Qualley masters an alchemical mixture of manic pixie dream girl, self-destructive alcoholic, and erotic flirt. She perfectly portrays the conflict of a cynical, self-interested woman struggling internally with the deep, selfless emotions of love.

There is something about her character Trish, often cramped into an intimate close-up, which conveys a certain truth about being a young woman in an unkind world. Through the very specific situation of an American journalist stuck in Nicaragua, having to use her body and wits to survive, Qualley communicates more universal feelings of the vulnerabilities of womanhood.

Related: Stars at Noon: How Director Claire Denis Made Her Romantic Thriller for the Pandemic Era

Denis recognized this in Johnson's novel. "I found in The Stars at Noon something rare," the filmmaker said at Cannes, "something addressing to me my own fears, my own humiliations, my own hopes, my own despair." Denis immediately knew that Qualley was the acting vessel to contain these feelings in Stars at Noon after seeing her in the Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , where she played the flirty but potentially dangerous hitchhiker. Initially, Robert Pattinson was cast opposite her, but Covid changed that; Taron Egerton was cast next, but that fell through as well.

Stars at Noon is Vague but Sounds and Looks Beautiful

Ultimately Joe Alwyn was cast as Daniel, and it's a good decision. He's as brooding as Pattinson and as tough as Egerton. Alwyn is a unique person in the industry, from his Grammy wins for co-writing songs with his partner Taylor Swift to his excellent performance in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk , and he's a good scene partner for Qualley here. Their sexual chemistry is organic, even if the actual love between them seems undeveloped and often odd. Benny Safdie (co-director of Uncut Gems and more) is excellent as a CIA agent interested in Daniel; it would have been nice to see more of him, but the small screen time he has with Qualley is incredible.

The great band Tindersticks, a (surprisingly) frequent collaborator with the director, provides strong ambiance in the score and lands an instant classic with the hopelessly romantic, sultry title song. Tindersticks masterfully accompanies the gorgeous cinematography from the legendary Éric Gautier, who photographs Nicaragua and Trish's body with an equal amount of heat, clarity, and curiosity. Like a lot of abstract art, Stars at Noon sounds and looks beautiful, but the vagueness of its sexy mystery can sometimes work against itself. Nonetheless, Denis is as hypnotic as ever in this film that truly makes Qualley a star.

Distributed by Wild Bunch and A24, and produced by Curiosa Films, Arte France Cinéma, Barnstormer Productions, and Hypatia Films, Stars at Noon is in theaters on October 14th.

Stars At Noon Review

Whether it’s the seductive Béatrice Dalle biting her lover to death ( Trouble Every Day ), the sexually repressed Robert Pattinson in space ( High Life ), or the militant Denis Lavant letting loose to ‘The Rhythm Of The Night’ ( Beau Travail ), director Claire Denis always delivers intense, sensual storytelling, often with a dangerous edge.

Stars At Noon is no different from her filmography in that respect – set in Central America, oppressive heat pulses out of the screen. Sweat drips and clothes stick, as desire runs high and desperation grows. Unfortunately, though the tactile nature of Denis’ filmmaking remains almost unmatched, the script (and largely the performances) supporting it here lets things down.

Margaret Qualley is a compelling ball of frantic energy as Trish, an apparently trying and failing political reporter whose previous work has gotten her into a bit of a predicament: she has no passport, no money, and no clear way out of Nicaragua, past a hostile government and police force. She’s all big eyes and curly hair, stomping around the frame, panickedly planning her next move.

As Daniel, Joe Alwyn struggles to keep up. A (very vaguely fleshed-out) businessman clearly in way over his head, his floppy blonde locks and white suit lend well to his character’s fish-out-of-water vibe, but Alwyn can’t seem to summon the urgency or passion needed to make him convincing. The film’s narrative drive depends heavily on Trish and Daniel’s Bonnie And Clyde -esque infatuation, and so because that doesn’t really work, not a lot else does either.

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‘Stars At Noon’: Cannes Review

By Jonathan Romney 2022-05-25T22:45:00+01:00

Margaret Qualley shines in Claire Denis’ elusive Grand Prix-winning thriller set in Nicaragua

Source: Wild Bunch International

‘Stars At Noon’

Dir: Claire Denis. France. 2022. 135 mins

Claire Denis has considerable form playing with genre ( Trouble Every Day , Bastards , High Life ) but has never made a legit genre movie as such. The indeterminacy continues with Stars at Noon , which – with its Central American locale and English-speaking stars – feels at first as if it’s going to be her most conventional work, but proves as elusive (almost verging on nebulous) as anything she’s done. Thoroughly eccentric, Stars at Noon comes across as a French auteur film pretending to be an erotic character drama pretending to be a political thriller. The result – something like a female-fronted version of Antonioni’s The Passenger - isn’t likely to entirely satisfy anyone in either the arthouse or mainstream camps. But if taken as an oblique tropical reverie, the film definitely has pleasures to offer – not least an oddball but often riveting lead performance by Margaret Qualley.

Denis builds her world to atmospheric effect, although she seems interested in mood and erotic energies at the expense of all else

Glimpses of masks and Covid-19 signs alert us from the first that Denis isn’t playing straight with this adaptation of ’The Stars at Noon’, the 1986 novel by the underrated Denis Johnson set during the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1984. The Panama-shot film is still set in Nicaragua, but takes place today – mobile phones and dodgy Wi-Fi connections feature heavily – and you’d need a strong knowledge of Central American politics to determine whether this narrative even remotely makes sense in terms of the region right now.

Be that as it may, Qualley plays a woman apparently called Trish Johnson (also the credits list all characters by their roles, rather than names), a journalist working in the country – although as she’s never seen writing, she’s about as plausible a reporter as Tintin. Perpetually low on funds, and in danger of having her papers and passport confiscated, she’s been getting by selling her sexual favours to an elderly Vice-Minister (Stephan Proaño) and a local officer, Subteniente Verga (Nick Romano). One night, in the bar of a hotel considerably classier than her own run-down digs, she meets a smooth-talking white-suited Englishman, apparently named Daniel de Haven (Joe Alwyn), who is in town with a delegation from an international oil company.

She offers to sleep with him for $50, but she’s clearly attracted to him at the start, slipping off her sandals at first approach and commenting, “She’s a little wet,” (actually a comment about her insufficiently strong cocktail). Before long, numerous steamy sessions in both parties’ hotels seem to be turning into mutual amour fou.

But politics – local and global – turn up the heat further. The business associate Daniel is meeting (Danny Ramirez) is actually, Trish warns, a Costa Rican cop, and the Englishman proves to be in big trouble, for obscure reasons. As things get increasingly more dangerous for the duo, they decide to skip to the Costa Rican border, where a bumptious, smiling American (Benny Safdie) seems to know their movements inside out – although so does pretty much everyone they meet.

The most interesting aspect of the film is Qualley’s character, a wayward, sexually upfront woman, vulnerable behind a carapace of self-protective cynicism, seemingly desperate and out of control, and yet who knows the score and the survival tactics better than anyone else around. Qualley limns the character intriguingly, mixing a hard edge with a strange waif-like nerviness. By contrast, Alwyn never comes across as much more than a smooth-spoken, suave and oddly unflappable hunk, and the pair, even in their sweaty moments, have precious little chemistry.

The script by Denis, Andrew Litvack and Léa Mysius, herself in Cannes with her new feature The Five Devils , never quite convinces as a coherent thriller – although Denis Johnson’s plots can be wilfully byzantine – and has an odd way of shuttling unpredictably between Spanish and English, the latter sometimes spoken for no clear reason by the Nicaraguans. It’s also odd that, in the streets of a largely deserted, military-patrolled city in the run-up to all-important elections, Trish appears to be the only journalist in town, or even in the whole country – although a very pissed-off magazine editor (an amusing John C. Reilly), to whom she tries to pitch a travel piece, barks at her, “Admit to yourself you’re not a journalist.”

It’s regrettable that the film shows scant interest in any of its Latino characters, many of whom are treated simply as disposable game pieces (a lively exception being the testy motel owner, a brittle turn by Monica Bartholomew). And the sense of jeopardy is considerably undermined by the fugitive couple’s sometimes absurdly casual reactions to outbursts of sudden death. Otherwise, Denis builds her world to atmospheric effect, although she seems interested in mood and erotic energies at the expense of all else – Eric Gautier’s photography superbly mustering a sense of oppressive dampness, and capturing the magic of dense rain in deserted yellow-lit streets.

Regular Denis soundtrackers Tindersticks do their distinctive stuff, with music (including a Latin-styled theme song) written by Stuart Staples and Dan McKinna.

Production company: Curiosa Films

International sales: Wild Bunch International, [email protected]

Producer: Olivier Delbosc

Screenplay: Claire Denis, Léa Mysius, Andrew Litvack

Cinematography: Eric Gautier

Editor: Guy Lecorne

Production design: Arnaud de Moléron

Music: Tindersticks

Main cast: Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, Danny Ramirez

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Movie Review – Stars at Noon (2022)

June 8, 2023 by Robert Kojder

Stars at Noon , 2022.

Directed by Claire Denis. Starring Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, John C. Reilly, Danny Ramirez, Nick Romano, Robin Durán, Stephan Proaño, Héctor Moreno, Sebastian Donoso, and Monica Bartholomew.

In present-day Nicaragua, a headstrong American journalist and a mysterious English businessman strike up a romance as they become embroiled in a dangerous labyrinth of lies and conspiracies and are forced to try and escape the country.

For her second film of the year, director Claire Denis has updated Denis Johnson’s novel The Stars at Noon (dropping the article for the film’s title), co-writing the screenplay alongside Andrew Litvack and Léa Mysius, shifting from 1984 Nicaragua to modern times global health crisis Nicaragua.

There also happens to be much unexplored political strife and tension, which feels a bit tone-deaf in a film that could be succinctly summarized as two attractive white people falling in love and fucking for over two hours. If the point is to relay a standard “times haven’t changed since the publication of this book” message, one would presume it would behoove the filmmakers to make a more significant effort to dive into such Central American conflicts.

The upside is that the two gorgeous specimens are played by Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn, who don’t necessarily elicit an emotional connection to their swooning over one another, but something more carnally palpable. Again, there is plenty of sex and nudity here, all done so well and authentically without holding back that it’s, depressingly, a relief to observe such erotic encounters during a time when sex often feels erased from movies, including ones that are meant to be charged by sexual activity.

There’s an unfortunate amount to Stars at Noon that is plodding and seemingly pointless, but not without a compelling stretch watching these characters make reckless choices trying to escape the country and keep their romance burning.

Trish (Margaret Qualley) is apparently a disgraced freelance journalist who has a habit of disappearing on assignments (or something along those lines). It’s all brought up when she gains Internet access, and Zoom calls her editor (an amusing cameo played straight by John C. Reilly), who has no interest in getting her a passport to cross over to Costa Rica. He also mentions a controversial story Trish ran that got her into this mess. However, Stars at Night doesn’t have much concern for these elements, which would give some much-needed expansion to Trish as a character.

Instead, Trish operates as a prostitute for a few of the connections she does have, which leads her to the mysterious and possible spy Daniel (Joe Alwyn) whom she falls for hard, even when an American agent played by Benny Safdie intervenes and tries to explain that he is responsible for some horrendous crimes making lives worse for the locals. On some level, there’s a deep admiration for Stars at Noon functioning as a relaxed story with characters so horny for one another that they refuse to listen to reason and continuously embark on a path simultaneously dangerous and sensual.

However, at a punishing 138 minutes, Stars at Noon frequently comes across as hollow and disinterested in these people as characters and the story’s setting. As a result, the film raises questions rather than answering some of the ones we already have, all while Trish and Daniel repeatedly fuck. They are both talented and skilled here, especially at conveying that physical lust, but eventually, one requires something else to further invest in this narrative, something that never comes (although the characters certainly do come, so good for them).

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Stars at noon.

2022 Directed by Claire Denis

A sumptuous tale of romance and espionage.

Margaret Qualley Joe Alwyn Benny Safdie Danny Ramirez Nick Romano Stephan Proaño Robin Durán John C. Reilly Carlos Serrano Monica Bartholomew Carlos Bennett Sebastian Donoso Héctor Moreno Jose Leonel Hernandez Cristian Pulido Luís Franco Steven Garcia Rogelio Chung Dayan Rodriguez Benito Tuñon Moises Caballero Bayardo Peralta Emmanuel Barahona Alexis Quintero Carlos Trujilo Maria Quintero Luis Barrios Gustavo Pérez Miroslava Morales Show All… Elvira ‘Ellie’ Rodríguez Alejandro Castoverde Mark Headley

Director Director

Claire Denis

Producers Producers

Olivier Hélie Olivier Delbosc Emilien Bignon Pituka Ortega-Heilbron Marcela Heilbron Valérie Farthouat Vincent Maraval Brahim Chioua Eva Diederix

Writers Writers

Claire Denis Andrew Litvack Léa Mysius

Original Writer Original Writer

Denis Johnson

Casting Casting

Des Hamilton Carmen Cuba Hannah Cooper

Editor Editor

Guy Lecorne

Cinematography Cinematography

Éric Gautier

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Melvin Nkosi Joseph Rapp

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Olivier Gauriat Christine de Jekel Pituka Ortega-Heilbron Marcela Heilbron

Production Design Production Design

Arnaud de Moléron

Art Direction Art Direction

Dilva Valdés

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Teresa Hurtado Padrón

Visual Effects Visual Effects

My Lan Nguyen Quang

Composer Composer

Tindersticks

Sound Sound

Jean-Paul Mugel Simon Poupard Thomas Desjonquères Ingmar Herrera

Costume Design Costume Design

Judy Shrewsbury

Makeup Makeup

Turid Follvik

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Silvine Picard

Curiosa Films ARTE France Cinéma Ad Vitam Production

Releases by Date

25 may 2022, 02 oct 2022, 28 apr 2023, 12 nov 2023, theatrical limited, 14 oct 2022, 01 dec 2022, 23 dec 2022, 13 apr 2023, 14 jun 2023, 31 aug 2023, 05 oct 2023, 28 oct 2022, 01 feb 2023, 19 jun 2023, 04 oct 2023, 11 jan 2024, 17 oct 2023, releases by country.

Theatrical MA 15+
Digital MA 15+
Theatrical 15+
Premiere Cannes Film Festival
Physical DVD & Blu-Ray
Theatrical 16

New Zealand

Digital R16

Russian Federation

Theatrical 18+

South Korea

Premiere 18 Jeonju International Film Festival
Premiere Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
Premiere New York Film Festival
Theatrical limited R
Digital R Hulu

138 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by AmandaTheJedi

Perhaps I see why Robert Pattinson left for reasons other than scheduling

Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ 10

Another treatise on feeling lost, lonely, and fragile in a dangerous, collapsing post-colonial world from our foremost master of the intersection between the sensual and political. No other filmmaker is as gifted as Denis at the conflicted ambiguity between desiring the touch of another and having that touch cursed by unseen material, transactional forces. MQ is in the running for the strangest/best physical performance of the year (even the way she simply walks barefoot in the rainy streets is hypnotizing), and I will be sliding the moody, ambient jazz Tindersticks score into my end-of-the-year rotation immediately. Were the Cannes critics shown a different movie?

Review by davidehrlich ★★★½

Review by ammu

just another taylor swift and jack antonoff collab

Review by fran hoepfner ★★★★½ 6

acquired taste, I guess, but honey, I’m slurping it down 🥤

my review for Gawker

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★★

My understand is that the source novel is very specific. Denis’ movie exists not only in a suspended time, but place as well. Latin America not as a playground for foreign forces as much as this endless dangerous road, the political intrigue remaining an obscure pressure over the two main characters. It is perhaps because I'm currently in an easy mood to connect to an idea of purgatory, but the entire thing remains very appealing for me. Stars at Noon is pretty much about clinging to another body as the uncertain shadows falls over you, less a romance than longing for one as you die slowly. It certainly makes great use of Denis facility to shift between physical and abstract…

Review by sarah 🐈🏜 ★½ 3

at one point in the movie joe alwyn says "i love you" and the audience laughed

Review by Michael Mann Facts ★★★★★

The vibes that Stars at Noon instills are probably most comparable to the precariousness and excitement of “hitting it raw,” which makes a lot of sense if you’ve seen the film.

To those looking for plot, I guide you to Claire Denis’s introduction at the NYFF premiere wherein she vaguely gestured for all the men of the film to come onstage (not naming any of them) and, instead of speaking about the movie, directly addressed Dennis Lim (beet red, giggling) saying: “the first time I ever saw a real white linen suit was with you… in Colombia…” Then the film played.

Review by ˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ ★★★ 3

very sad to admit that i did not love a claire denis movie starring margaret qualley and benny safdie

Review by nick ★★½ 1

Stars at Noon is so bloated that all of its fleeting brilliance pales in comparison. Claire Denis clearly is a master of telling a sexually explicit story with style, but with such a meatless story, no magic shall be created here.

Stars at Noon is as political as it's romantic, centering around the lingering romance between two foreigners in Nicaragua during its political unrest, as well as the pandemic. Notorious for its sex scenes during its Cannes premiere, Stars at Noon definitely excels at presenting sexuality as seductive and sweaty as the tropical summer days. Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley are simply admirable for baring it for the sake of art, and Denis definitely helped bring out Alwyn's sex appeals…

Review by Sam B.

Margaret Qualley performance of the year. Like if Cher starred in POSSESSION...her back does the most insane acting here. That flip-flop walk...

otherwise, Claire Denis directing this movie, where a racist white woman tries to con her way out of being collateral damage under US imperialism because she's deluded into believing her work is Important and her touch is real...you've got your ass in a sling. not sexy or romantic but a secret third thing (drunk). what a crazy diss track on herself and that still doesn't even move the needle, as venomous as it is hollow. not for nothing her most formally accomplished work. Joe Alywnn!? i feel crazy. one of the films ever made.

Review by LAC2001 5

I’m excited for Claire Denis to work with Pattinson again and possibly include a scene where someone steals his semen

Edit (July 10, 2021): Shit

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Stars at noon, common sense media reviewers.

Romantic thriller has sex, language, and underlying threat.

A Lot or a Little?

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

It's OK to do what is necessary to survive and to

The majority of characters lie and manipulate othe

Leading actors are American and English, though th

Almost constant sense of threat. Soldiers and secu

Kissing and sex is portrayed on-screen frequently,

Language includes "f---ing," "f--ked," "f--k," "bu

Coke, Sprite, Martini, and Starbucks brands mentio

Characters drink throughout much of the film, from

Positive Messages

It's OK to do what is necessary to survive and to capture small moments of pleasure in hard times. Be careful who you trust, as they could have their own motives at play.

Positive Role Models

The majority of characters lie and manipulate others, acting in ways that mostly ensure their own survival. Trish is clever and street smart, but also reactive and chaotic. She trades sex for money and protection, regularly steals, and relies heavily on alcohol. Daniel is arrogant and secretive, his assumption of privilege endangering himself and others. Most characters in positions of authority are shown to be corrupt.

Diverse Representations

Leading actors are American and English, though those in supporting roles are mostly from South America, in-keeping with the setting of the film. Main female character is strong-willed, but ultimately relies on male characters with money or authority to survive.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Almost constant sense of threat. Soldiers and security guards carry guns. Guns are fired and characters shot -- a dead body with bullet wounds shown floating in the water. Another dead body is seen with a phone forced into the mouth, and another beneath a sheet. Bloody wounds are shown. Kidnapping and hangings are mentioned in passing and a truck is set on fire. Set during the COVID pandemic, people are seen wearing masks and taking PCR tests.

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

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Kissing and sex is portrayed on-screen frequently, including full nudity from behind. Breasts also shown. A character has sex in exchange for money and protection, and cash exchanges hands. Adultery is mentioned and a married character has an affair on-screen. References to oral sex.

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

Language includes "f---ing," "f--ked," "f--k," "bulls--t," "s--t," "ass," "whores," and a character telling another to "eat me."

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

Products & Purchases

Coke, Sprite, Martini, and Starbucks brands mentioned.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters drink throughout much of the film, from morning to night, including cocktails, beer, and straight rum. They are also seen drunk on a number of occasions. Characters smoke cigarettes regularly.

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 Stars at Noon is a romantic thriller, set against a backdrop of political unrest between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and features sex with nudity, strong language, and constant threat. The film stars Margaret Qualley as Trish, an American journalist who begins an affair with Daniel ( Joe Alwyn ), a British businessman, who Trish thinks is her best way of getting out of Nicaragua. There is an underlying sense of threat throughout -- armed guards are seen on the streets and dangerous scenes portrayed near the border. Characters are shot dead with bodies shown. Set during the COVID pandemic, characters wear masks and take PCR tests. Sex is portrayed numerous times, with breasts and full nudity from behind shown. Money also exchanges hands after sex. Language includes "f--k" and "s--t," and characters smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol throughout most of the film, appearing drunk on occasion. The movie is adapted form a 1986 novel by Denis Johnson. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In STARS AT NOON, Trish, an American journalist ( Margaret Qualley ), meets Daniel ( Joe Alwyn ), a British businessman, in Nicaragua and the two begin a steamy affair. As a web of lies and conspiracy begins to unfold, the two must figure out who to trust as they are forced to find a way to escape the country.

Is It Any Good?

French director Claire Denis made quite an impact at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize and being nominated for the Palme d'Or for this languid tale of romance in a time of political unrest. A jazz-inspired score and surreal interludes, where time appears to stop altogether, initially gives Stars at Noon a dreamlike quality. But over the course of the film, it starts to feel like a kind of purgatory for the characters as they look to find a means of escape. It's certainly atmospheric, even if in real-world time the film meanders on for well over two hours.

Qualley is mesmerizing to watch and imbues the role of Trish with a chaotic energy, though both she and Alwyn slightly lack the years and experience to carry off the wiser, more knowing aspects of their characters. Benny Safdie's CIA agent steals every scene he's in, and a video-call cameo from John C. Reilly as Trish's sometimes editor is another welcome addition. If you're willing to immerse yourself in the murky waters, Stars at Noon will pull you fully into its world of sex and intrigue.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the political backdrop of Stars at Noon . How did the political unrest and the shadow of colonialism affect the position the characters were placed in? How did it contribute to a sense of threat?

How did the movie portray sex and nudity? Was it affectionate/tasteful? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.

Talk about some of the language used. Did it seem necessary or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?

How was drinking and smoking depicted in the movie? Were they glamorized? Did the characters need to do these things? What were the consequences ?

The film is based on a book. What other adaptations have you seen?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 14, 2022
On DVD or streaming : October 14, 2022
Cast : Margaret Qualley , Joe Alwyn , Benny Safdie
Director : Claire Denis
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : A24
Genre : Thriller
Topics : Book Characters
Run time : 135 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : sexual content, nudity, language and some violence
Last updated : January 10, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Screen Rant

The classic western movie that john wayne turned down was a massive win for gary cooper.

John Wayne was famous for passing on projects that didn't align with his politics, but one movie in particular went on to net Gary Cooper an Oscar.

John Wayne passed on 1952 classic High Noon, as he hated the script's blacklisting subtext.
High Noon netted star Gary Cooper an Oscar, which Wayne later collected on his friend's behalf.
Wayne didn't win his own Oscar until 1970, for playing Rooster Cogburn in True Grit.

John Wayne turned down one of the best Westerns of the 1950s for political reasons, and practically gifted Gary Cooper an Oscar as a result. Following his breakout role in John Ford's classic Stagecoach , Wayne became one of Hollywood's biggest names. He cycled through many genres during his decades-long career, from romantic dramas ( The Quiet Man ) to hard-nosed cop thrillers ( McQ ). Of course, John Wayne having fronted 80 Westerns sees him permanently linked to the genre.

Wayne made an almost embarrassing number of classics in the genre. The Searchers is considered by Spielberg and Scorsese to be the best American Western ever, while Rio Bravo was secretly remade twice by John Carpenter . Even Wayne's final film The Shootist was a Western that featured one of his most vulnerable turns as a gunslinger dying of cancer. The star was also famous for passing on roles that didn't align with his politics. This includes passing on Spielberg comedy 1941 as he didn't think World War 2 should be laughed at.

John Wayne's Favorite Films Of His Own

Gary cooper won an oscar for high noon, the western john wayne rejected, john wayne even accepted the oscar on gary cooper's behalf.

John Wayne was the natural first choice for High Noon, but he swiftly passed. Wayne hated the main character and read the story as an allegory for the blacklisting happening in Hollywood at the time.

Another Western favorite from the 1950s is High Noon , where Gary Cooper's Marshal is forced to defend a town from vengeful outlaws. A big part of the story involves Cooper's Will Kane trying to enlist help from the townspeople, who turn him down until he's forced to fight alone. In a break from Western protocol from this period, High Noon portrays Kane as vulnerable and stressed, instead of being a macho John Wayne-type who has no fear of death.

Being the biggest star of the genre, John Wayne was the natural first choice for High Noon , but he swiftly passed. Wayne hated the main character and read the story as an allegory for the blacklisting happening in Hollywood at the time. Cooper later accepted the role, with the film receiving praise and becoming a solid financial success.

Interestingly, Cooper was later awarded an Academy Award for High Noon but was unable to attend the ceremony. He asked his friend Wayne to accept it on his behalf, despite being aware of the star's revulsion for the film. Nonetheless, Wayne picked up Cooper's High Noon Oscar on his friend's behalf , praising the star's work before bizarrely joking that he wished he had accepted the role (via Oscars ).

Why John Wayne Turned Down High Noon And Made Another Movie In Response To It

Wayne and john ford's rio bravo retells the same basic story with a very different tone.

*Availability in US

Not available

Rio Bravo is a Western film directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. The 1959 release sees Wayne playing a local sheriff that must hold a local criminal in jail until a U.S. Marshall can arrive to pick him up.

Wayne took particular issue with the blacklisting subtext of High Noon since he openly supported the practice. During this period, the House Committee of Un-American Activities had begun targeting Hollywood productions, being fearful of alleged communist propaganda being smuggled into them. As a result, the careers of many filmmakers were heavily impacted or ruined, including that of High Noon screenwriter Carl Foreman, since he refused to "name names" during his testimony.

Wayne not only found High Noon "Un-American," but he hated the notion that a sheriff would run around town begging for help. That's partly why Wayne and Howard Hawks teamed for their take on High Noon with 1959's Rio Bravo , which cast the former as a sheriff besieged by outlaws . They're looking to break their boss out of jail, but Wayne's John T. Chance refuses to ask for help, even when others offer it. In keeping with Wayne's more sentimental view of how the West, various townspeople come to Chance's aid in the final shootout.

Rio Bravo is now a Western classic in its own right and one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies. The film has great characters (including career-best work from co-star Dean Martin) and dialogue, with some bursts of action thrown in. Rio Bravo and High Noon are both held in high regard , though the latter is a significantly darker tale than Wayne's unofficial remake.

Wayne and Hawks remade Rio Bravo itself twice; the first was 1966's El Dorado , which was followed by 1970's Rio Lobo .

John Wayne Didn't Win An Oscar Of His Own Until 1970

Wayne showed he had true grit playing rooster cogburn.

If Wayne had played the lead in High Noon , he likely would have insisted on a more manly rendition of Kane. It's hard to say if High Noon would have netted Wayne an Oscar like it did for Cooper since they were very different performers. Despite being such a beloved star, Wayne wasn't rated that high by critics, so it took many years for him to earn his first (and only) Best Actor Academy Award. Wayne won his Oscar for playing True Grit's Rooster Cogburn , a gruff, drunken U.S. Marshal.

Rooster Cogburn marks the only time John Wayne ever reprised a character too, with his penultimate movie being 1975's fittingly titled Rooster Cogburn .

Wayne is quite hammy and over the top as Cogburn, which happens to suit the movie perfectly. The film is really a buddy comedy between Cogburn and the no-nonsense teenager who hires him, Mattie (Kim Darby), who wants to avenge her father. True Grit offered the star the chance to play a role that wasn't just the typical Wayne character, with he even he felt the performance was some of his best work. Again, a John Wayne version of High Noon would have looked quite different, but maybe that could have netted him the Oscar much sooner.

Source: Oscars

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Critic’s Pick

‘Civil War’ Review: We Have Met the Enemy and It Is Us. Again.

In Alex Garland’s tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself.

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‘Civil War’ | Anatomy of a Scene

The writer and director alex garland narrates a sequence from his film..

“My name is Alex Garland and I’m the writer director of ‘Civil War’. So this particular clip is roughly around the halfway point of the movie and it’s these four journalists and they’re trying to get, in a very circuitous route, from New York to DC, and encountering various obstacles on the way. And this is one of those obstacles. What they find themselves stuck in is a battle between two snipers. And they are close to one of the snipers and the other sniper is somewhere unseen, but presumably in a large house that sits over a field and a hill. It’s a surrealist exchange and it’s surrounded by some very surrealist imagery, which is they’re, in broad daylight in broad sunshine, there’s no indication that we’re anywhere near winter in the filming. In fact, you can kind of tell it’s summer. But they’re surrounded by Christmas decorations. And in some ways, the Christmas decorations speak of a country, which is in disrepair, however silly it sounds. If you haven’t put away your Christmas decorations, clearly something isn’t going right.” “What’s going on?” “Someone in that house, they’re stuck. We’re stuck.” “And there’s a bit of imagery. It felt like it hit the right note. But the interesting thing about that imagery was that it was not production designed. We didn’t create it. We actually literally found it. We were driving along and we saw all of these Christmas decorations, basically exactly as they are in the film. They were about 100 yards away, just piled up by the side of the road. And it turned out, it was a guy who’d put on a winter wonderland festival. People had not dug his winter wonderland festival, and he’d gone bankrupt. And he had decided just to leave everything just strewn around on a farmer’s field, who was then absolutely furious. So in a way, there’s a loose parallel, which is the same implication that exists within the film exists within real life.” “You don’t understand a word I say. Yo. What’s over there in that house?” “Someone shooting.” “It’s to do with the fact that when things get extreme, the reasons why things got extreme no longer become relevant and the knife edge of the problem is all that really remains relevant. So it doesn’t actually matter, as it were, in this context, what side they’re fighting for or what the other person’s fighting for. It’s just reduced to a survival.”

By Manohla Dargis

A blunt, gut-twisting work of speculative fiction, “Civil War” opens with the United States at war with itself — literally, not just rhetorically. In Washington, D.C., the president is holed up in the White House; in a spookily depopulated New York, desperate people wait for water rations. It’s the near-future, and rooftop snipers, suicide bombers and wild-eyed randos are in the fight while an opposition faction with a two-star flag called the Western Forces, comprising Texas and California — as I said, this is speculative fiction — is leading the charge against what remains of the federal government. If you’re feeling triggered, you aren’t alone.

It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping. Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6. As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone? If that sounds harrowing, you’re right. It’s one thing when a movie taps into childish fears with monsters under the bed; you’re eager to see what happens because you know how it will end (until the sequel). Adult fears are another matter.

In “Civil War,” the British filmmaker Alex Garland explores the unbearable if not the unthinkable, something he likes to do. A pop cultural savant, he made a splashy zeitgeist-ready debut with his 1996 best seller “The Beach,” a novel about a paradise that proves deadly, an evergreen metaphor for life and the basis for a silly film . That things in the world are not what they seem, and are often far worse, is a theme that Garland has continued pursuing in other dark fantasies, first as a screenwriter (“ 28 Days Later ”), and then as a writer-director (“ Ex Machina ”). His résumé is populated with zombies, clones and aliens, though reliably it is his outwardly ordinary characters you need to keep a closer watch on.

By the time “Civil War” opens, the fight has been raging for an undisclosed period yet long enough to have hollowed out cities and people’s faces alike. It’s unclear as to why the war started or who fired the first shot. Garland does scatter some hints; in one ugly scene, a militia type played by a jolting, scarily effective Jesse Plemons asks captives “what kind of American” they are. Yet whatever divisions preceded the conflict are left to your imagination, at least partly because Garland assumes you’ve been paying attention to recent events. Instead, he presents an outwardly and largely post-ideological landscape in which debates over policies, politics and American exceptionalism have been rendered moot by war.

‘Civil War’ Is Designed to Disturb You

A woman with a bulletproof vest that says “Press” stands in a smoky city street.

One thing that remains familiar amid these ruins is the movie’s old-fashioned faith in journalism. Dunst, who’s sensational, plays Lee, a war photographer who works for Reuters alongside her friend, a reporter, Joel (the charismatic Wagner Moura). They’re in New York when you meet them, milling through a crowd anxiously waiting for water rations next to a protected tanker. It’s a fraught scene; the restless crowd is edging into mob panic, and Lee, camera in hand, is on high alert. As Garland’s own camera and Joel skitter about, Lee carves a path through the chaos, as if she knows exactly where she needs to be — and then a bomb goes off. By the time it does, an aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), is also in the mix.

The streamlined, insistently intimate story takes shape once Lee, Joel, Jessie and a veteran reporter, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), pile into a van and head to Washington. Joel and Lee are hoping to interview the president (Nick Offerman), and Sammy and Jessie are riding along largely so that Garland can make the trip more interesting. Sammy serves as a stabilizing force (Henderson fills the van with humanizing warmth), while Jessie plays the eager upstart Lee takes under her resentful wing. It’s a tidily balanced sampling that the actors, with Garland’s banter and via some cozy downtime, turn into flesh-and-blood personalities, people whose vulnerability feeds the escalating tension with each mile.

As the miles and hours pass, Garland adds diversions and hurdles, including a pair of playful colleagues, Tony and Bohai (Nelson Lee and Evan Lai), and some spooky dudes guarding a gas station. Garland shrewdly exploits the tense emptiness of the land, turning strangers into potential threats and pretty country roads into ominously ambiguous byways. Smartly, he also recurrently focuses on Lee’s face, a heartbreakingly hard mask that Dunst lets slip brilliantly. As the journey continues, Garland further sketches in the bigger picture — the dollar is near-worthless, the F.B.I. is gone — but for the most part, he focuses on his travelers and the engulfing violence, the smoke and the tracer fire that they often don’t notice until they do.

Despite some much-needed lulls (for you, for the narrative rhythm), “Civil War” is unremittingly brutal or at least it feels that way. Many contemporary thrillers are far more overtly gruesome than this one, partly because violence is one way unimaginative directors can put a distinctive spin on otherwise interchangeable material: Cue the artful fountains of arterial spray. Part of what makes the carnage here feel incessant and palpably realistic is that Garland, whose visual approach is generally unfussy, doesn’t embellish the violence, turning it into an ornament of his virtuosity. Instead, the violence is direct, at times shockingly casual and unsettling, so much so that its unpleasantness almost comes as a surprise.

If the violence feels more intense than in a typical genre shoot ’em up, it’s also because, I think, with “Civil War,” Garland has made the movie that’s long been workshopped in American political discourse and in mass culture, and which entered wider circulation on Jan. 6. The raw power of Garland’s vision unquestionably owes much to the vivid scenes that beamed across the world that day when rioters, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “ MAGA civil war ,” swarmed the Capitol. Even so, watching this movie, I also flashed on other times in which Americans have relitigated the Civil War directly and not, on the screen and in the streets.

Movies have played a role in that relitigation for more than a century, at times grotesquely. Two of the most famous films in history — D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (which became a Ku Klux Klan recruitment tool) and the romantic 1939 melodrama “Gone With the Wind” — are monuments to white supremacy and the myth of the Southern Lost Cause. Both were critical and popular hits. In the decades since, filmmakers have returned to the Civil War era to tell other stories in films like “Glory,” “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” that in addressing the American past inevitably engage with its present.

There are no lofty or reassuring speeches in “Civil War,” and the movie doesn’t speak to the better angels of our nature the way so many films try to. Hollywood’s longstanding, deeply American imperative for happy endings maintains an iron grip on movies, even in ostensibly independent productions. There’s no such possibility for that in “Civil War.” The very premise of Garland’s movie means that — no matter what happens when or if Lee and the rest reach Washington — a happy ending is impossible, which makes this very tough going. Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray.

Civil War Rated R for war violence and mass death. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this review misidentified an organization in the Civil War in the movie. It is the Western Forces, not the Western Front.

How we handle corrections

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
Tyler Gillett
Stephen Shields
Melissa Barrera
Dan Stevens
Alisha Weir
80 User reviews
116 Critic reviews
63 Metascore

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The Cast of 'Abigail' Test Their Vampire IQ

Did you know

Trivia Angus Cloud 's final role before his passing in July 2023. Although production wasn't completed until months after his death due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Cloud still managed to film all of his scenes before production was shut down.
Goofs Unless Abigail had recently gone on a murder binge of truly epic proportions, it would be impossible for all the dozens of bodies at the pool that Sammy falls into, to be all so fresh, and for all of them to be seemingly in the same state of decomposition specifically if they have been sitting in a pool of water.

Abigail : [from trailer] What can I say? I like playing with my food.

Connections Features Pantry Panic (1941)

User reviews 80

HerbieStretch
Apr 19, 2024

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How long is Abigail? Powered by Alexa
April 19, 2024 (United States)
United States
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Dublin, Ireland (main location)
Project X Entertainment
Québec Production Services Tax Credit
Radio Silence Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$28,000,000 (estimated)
$10,200,000
Apr 21, 2024
$15,227,000

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 49 minutes

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‘Hard Miles’ Review: Matthew Modine Stars in a Scenic Cycle Through the West

The long winding road to redemption beckons four juvenile offenders and their adult minders in R.J. Daniel Hanna’s satisfying, fact-inspired drama.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

Film Critic

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A grueling two-pedal route to the Grand Canyon just might provide the course-correction male juvenile offenders need in “ Hard Miles .” With Matthew Modine as their teacher-coach, this fact-inspired tale covers familiar redemptive sports drama terrain. But it’s traveled with affectingly understated assurance by director R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Miss Virginia”) and a strong cast, making for a satisfying scenic ride that picked up several festival audience awards last year.

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Given scant prior training, this quarrelsome “team” is off to a rough start, encountering plenty of personality-conflict speed bumps ahead. But “Hard Miles” also conveys the exhilaration of the open road, steep physical challenges conquered, and collective bonding that results. Though we learn little about their individual histories, we can feel how these characters blossom in the rare glow of being allowed to actually achieve something themselves. This ride proves they’re not simply loser delinquents, as they’ve always been told.

The pacing slackens somewhat around the two-thirds point, then rallies for separate climaxes sentimental (when Greg finally visits his father’s deathbed) and rousing (as the Grand Canyon is reached), both handled with moving restraint rather than heavy-handed melodrama or inspirational uplift. While there’s an occasional corny line here, Hanna and Sander wisely keep dialogue on the humorous and/or argumentative side — after all, these are figures who’ve learned the hard way not to admit emotional vulnerability.

Almost 40 years after playing another driven amateur athlete in “Vision Quest,” Modine is solid as a man who might be that same figure far down a road rougher than expected, his wide-eyed optimism now gone and his sportsmanship carrying the whiff of compulsive escape. The younger actors are very good, if perhaps a bit mature-looking to pass as teens. McWilliams and Baker provide notes of flinty good humor, as does Sean Astin as a bike repair shop owner arm-twisted into being the team’s “sponsor.”

Highlighting the smooth tech and design contributions is Mack Fisher’s widescreen cinematography, which makes the most of numerous spectacular landscape vistas — even if apparently some of them are in reality Californian, rather than from the route dramatized.

Reviewed online, April 15, 2024. MPA rating: PG-13. Running time: 109 MIN.

Production: A Blue Fox Entertainment release of a Pense Productions presentation in association with A Very Lucky Distributor. Producer: Christian Sander. Executive producers: Scott Sander, Larry Roth. Co-producers: Phin Palmer, Greg Bartlett.
Crew: Director: R.J. Daniel Hanna. Screenplay: Hanna, Christian Sander. Camera: Mack Fisher. Editor: Evan Schrodek. Music: Andrew Johnson.
With: Matthew Modine, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Jahking Guillory, Jackson Kelly, Zachary T. Robbins, Damien Diaz, Leslie David Baker, Sean Astin.

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Stars at Noon
‘Stars At Noon Movie Review
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Stars at Noon (2022)
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Stars at Noon (2022)

COMMENTS

Stars at Noon movie review & film summary (2022)
Although "Stars at Noon" is set in Nicaragua during the very recent past, it's another film by legendary director Claire Denis ("Beau Travail," "High Life") that seems to have been time-warped in from the 1970s or '80s, when tough, smart, languorous, handsomely produced, frankly sexual portraits of fascinating but often unlikable adults got made and seen more than occasionally, and played in ...
'Stars at Noon' Review: A Not-So-Innocent Abroad
Oct. 13, 2022. Stars at Noon. Directed by Claire Denis. Drama, Romance, Thriller. R. 2h 15m. Find Tickets. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn ...
Stars at Noon
Rated: 4/5 • Jul 25, 2023. Rated: 2.5/5 • Jun 26, 2023. A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua (Margaret Qualley) falls for an enigmatic Englishman (Joe Alwyn) who seems ...
Stars at Noon (2022)
Stars at Noon: Directed by Claire Denis. With Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, Danny Ramirez. A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua falls for an enigmatic Englishman who seems like her best chance of escape. She soon realizes, however, that he may be in even greater danger than she is.
'Stars at Noon' Review: Unbearable or Just Unbearably Hot?
Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn are expats unable to keep their hands off of each other in the unsettling new movie from Claire Denis. Photo: A24. Margaret Qualley's character in Stars at Noon ...
'Stars at Noon' Review: Claire Denis's Sexy Central American Thriller
'Stars at Noon' Review: Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn Work Up a Sweat in Claire Denis's Seductive Central American Escapade The genre and milieu may indicate a departure for Denis, but the ...
Stars at Noon
Claire Denis dominates the balance of tenderness and civil restlessness in Stars at Noon, a sweaty and dreamlike political thriller. Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2023. Pedro Gallego ...
Stars at Noon Review: Claire Denis' Sweaty Romantic Thriller Shines
'Stars at Noon' Review: Claire Denis' Sweaty Romantic Thriller Shines Bright Cannes: Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley get naked and run for the Nicaraguan border in the rare Denis movie with ...
'Stars at Noon' Review: Margaret Qualley & Joe Alwyn's Bad Romance
Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in Claire Denis' 'Stars at Noon': Film Review | Cannes 2022. Denis Johnson's novel about an American woman stranded in Central America during the 1984 ...
Stars at Noon (2022 film)
Stars at Noon is a 2022 English-language French romantic thriller film directed by Claire Denis, based on the 1986 novel The Stars at Noon by Denis Johnson, starring Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, Danny Ramirez, and John C. Reilly.The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix.
'Stars at Noon' review: Margaret Qualley, hot sex and tedium
Review: Claire Denis' erotic thriller 'Stars at Noon' emits the sweat smell of sexcess. Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in the movie "Stars at Noon.". Few filmmakers can evoke, as fully ...
Stars at Noon review
A broke young American woman in Nicaragua gets together with a suave Englishman in the veteran French director's unsettling mood piece. Wendy Ide. Sun 18 Jun 2023 07.00 EDT. F ew directors ...
Review: Margaret Qualley shines bright in 'Stars at Noon'
October 24, 2022. Sensory-based director Claire Denis has created a film that produces a humid heat palpable through the screen. Full of passion and peril, Denis's film "Stars at Noon" presents a romantic thriller that requires a particular taste, as it tends to focus on nuance over narrative. The film, shot in Panama and set in Nicaragua ...
Stars At Noon Review: A Languid Romantic Thriller Saved By Strong
By Graeme Guttmann. Published Oct 13, 2022. Struck by pacing issues & a lack of chemistry between its leads, Stars at Noon is saved by Qualley & Alwyn's performances & a lush vision from Denis. Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in Stars at Noon. Adapted from Denis Johnson's novel, Claire Denis' Stars at Noon is an exercise in patience.
Stars at Noon Review: An Abstract Sweaty Romance
Stars at Noon Review: An Abstract Sweaty Romance. By Matt Mahler. Published Sep 28, 2022. Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn fall in dangerous love in Claire Denis' new film Stars at Noon, a romance ...
Stars At Noon
Stars At Noon Review. American journalist Trish (Margaret Qualley) is stranded in Nicaragua, doing dodgy deals, desperate to get home. When she meets mysterious businessman Daniel (Joe Alwyn), she ...
'Stars At Noon': Cannes Review
Thoroughly eccentric, Stars at Noon comes across as a French auteur film pretending to be an erotic character drama pretending to be a political thriller. The result - something like a female ...
Stars at Noon (2022)
Movie Review - Stars at Noon (2022) Stars at Noon, 2022. Directed by Claire Denis. Starring Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, John C. Reilly, Danny Ramirez, Nick Romano, Robin Durán ...
‎Stars at Noon (2022) directed by Claire Denis • Reviews, film + cast
Synopsis. A sumptuous tale of romance and espionage. In present-day Nicaragua, a headstrong American journalist and a mysterious English businessman strike up a romance as they become embroiled in a dangerous labyrinth of lies and conspiracies and are forced to try and escape the country. Remove Ads.
Stars at Noon Movie Review
Parents need to know that Stars at Noon is a romantic thriller, set against a backdrop of political unrest between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and features sex with nudity, strong language, and constant threat. The film stars Margaret Qualley as Trish, an American journalist who begins an affair with Daniel (), a British businessman, who Trish thinks is her best way of getting out of Nicaragua.
Stars at Noon
SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/A24subscribeFrom acclaimed filmmaker Claire Denis and starring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn. Based on the novel 'The Stars at Noon...
'Stars At Noon' Ending, Explained: How Did Trish Manage To Leave The
The narrative of the film tries to explore Trish's stay in Nicaragua, which was driven by self-interest, transaction, failure, and love. The meanderings of "Stars at Noon" is inviting, but the lack of exploration of the politics leaves a taste of disappointment. "Stars at Noon" is a 2022 Drama Thriller film directed by Claire Denis.
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Rio Bravo is now a Western classic in its own right and one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies.The film has great characters (including career-best work from co-star Dean Martin) and dialogue, with some bursts of action thrown in. Rio Bravo and High Noon are both held in high regard, though the latter is a significantly darker tale than Wayne's unofficial remake.
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Abigail (2024)
Abigail: Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett. With Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, William Catlett. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.
'Hard Miles' Review: Matthew Modine Stars in a Scenic Cycle Through the
The long winding road to redemption beckons four juvenile offenders and their adult minders in R.J. Daniel Hanna's satisfying, fact-inspired drama. In a film loosely based on the life and work ...
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‘Stars at Noon’ Review: Claire Denis’ Sweaty Romantic Thriller Shines Bright

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Review: Margaret Qualley shines bright in ‘Stars at Noon’

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Stars at Noon Review: An Abstract Sweaty Romance

Stars at Noon is About Love in the Abstract

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A sumptuous tale of romance and espionage.

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