Premiering at the Venice Film Festival where it picked up the well-deserved Golden Lion, Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother is one of the loveliest, most delicately woven films of the year. Returning to the episodic structure of Night on Earth and Coffee and Cigarettes, the film traces three familial stories starring Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat. Ahead of MUBI’s December 24 release, the trailer and poster have arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “Winner of the Golden Lion Best Film prize at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is the eagerly-awaited new film from Jim Jarmusch. Funny, tender and astutely observed, this is an intimate exploration of the universal intricacies of family dynamics. Starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Told in the form of a triptych divided into chapters set in New Jersey, Dublin and Paris, each story concerns the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other. Blending remarkable performances from its ensemble cast with Jarmusch’s wry and idiosyncratic observations of everyday life, the iconic indie director’s latest serves as a timely reminder that you can choose your friends and your lovers, but you can’t choose your family.”
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “The director is, of course, no stranger to the anthology format: Mystery Train, Night on Earth, and Coffee and Cigarettes are some of the best examples of the unloved format. If the first two segments here were filmed in black-and-white, they could have slipped into Coffee without too much fuss. Nobody smokes in them, naturally, but the humor is relatively similar and the drinks, while tea, are at least served in cups. Of the three vignettes, I’m fondest of the middle story in which Krieps plays Lilith, the free-spirited sister of Blanchett’s buttoned-up Timothea, a public servant who has just landed a job at the heritage society. Seeing the two actresses spar while Rampling inquisitively watches on is probably worth the entry.”
See the trailer and poster below, along with New York Film Festival Q&As.
