The Mill Valley Film Festival once again reminds us of film’s boundless capacity to surprise, challenge, and move us.
Notes by Gary Meyer (unless noted otherwise). (Filmmakers and distributors have requested full reviews be held until the movies are released beyond festivals).
(October 4, 2025)
A Golden Autumn for Film Lovers
The Mill Valley Film Festival opened this week with a vibrant lineup of Oscar hopefuls and fresh discoveries that reaffirm its reputation as one of the Bay Area’s most beloved cinematic events.
Running through Sunday, October 12, across Marin County and the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, the festival arrives at the perfect moment—just as awards season heats up.
As One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, sparks early Oscar chatter, it’s at the fall festivals—Venice, Telluride, New York, and now Mill Valley—where audiences witness the most exciting creative risks and reinventions in modern cinema.
Opening Night Spotlight: Hamnet
Chloé Zhao takes a daring leap from the American frontier to Shakespearean England—and lands beautifully.
The festival opened with Hamnet, the much-anticipated new film by Chloé Zhao, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel. Departing from her earlier The Rider and Nomadland, Zhao crafts an intimate portrait of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, living through love, loss, and artistic awakening in an Elizabethan village.
The final act—a luminous meditation on the power of theater itself—is one of Zhao’s most inspired sequences. Performances by Jesse Buckley and Paul Mescal are nothing short of extraordinary. Expect Hamnet to be a major awards contender when it opens in November. Website.
Documentary Discoveries
One of the great things about documentaries is when they reveal stories we never knew existed—and force us to care.
Arrest the Midwife
This stirring documentary exposes the legal and moral challenges faced by midwives in New York’s Mennonite and Amish communities. Because home births are illegal without medical licensing, three women find themselves arrested for doing the work they see as sacred. The result is a powerful portrait of quiet rebellion, faith, and community solidarity as women come together as unlikely activists. (Watch the trailer)
The Perfect Neighbor
Set in a Florida housing project, The Perfect Neighbor is a gripping vérité experiment composed almost entirely of police body-camera footage.
The film examines escalating neighborhood tensions through the eyes of officers striving to remain fair and calm in the face of prejudice and misunderstanding.
While the so-called “Karen” figure at the story’s center could have turned the film into parody, the filmmakers instead deliver a measured, deeply human study of fear, empathy, and perception.
Originally made for Netflix, it’s a film that demands to be seen in a theater—where interruptions can’t dilute its uneasy power.
Everywhere Man: The Lives and Times of Peter Asher
In Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s Everywhere Man Peter Asher does indeed seem to be everywhere over the course of his fascinating life, from child actor to international pop star (Peter & Gordon) to talent manager (James Taylor, Linda Rondstadt), to multi-platinum record producer.
The framework for this entertaining documentary is Asher’s autobiographical one-man show, with each chapter of his life enriched by photos, film clips, interviews, and performances – by Asher and his many, star-studded friends. By the end of the film, you are impressed not only by Asher’s talent but by his warmth and humanity.
Tip: When launching your career, it’s helpful if your sister’s boyfriend helps put up shelves in your bookstore and also writes you a hit song because he happens to be Paul McCartney. (written by Marilyn Freund and Robert Bloomberg)
Dark Comedy and Risky Experiments
No Other Choice
Korean auteur Park Chan-wook returns with No Other Choice, a wickedly funny and unsettling satire about a desperate man who decides to literally eliminate his job competition to save the family home and lifestyle his wife and children deserve.
Stylish, grotesque, and unpredictable, it’s both a thriller and a morality play—with the kind of twist ending only Park could pull off. You may gasp at times but laughter will balance your experience.
Brother Versus Brother is a successful experiment in “live cinema.” Two real-life musician brothers wander through North Beach, Chinatown, and Russian Hill, improvising conversations, music, and emotion in a single continuous 90-minute take.
The story is fiction but believable as reality following filmmaker/musicians Ari and Ethan Gold as they visit favorite San Francisco haunts, Vesuvio’s, City Lights and Specs before deciding to climb the hill to their father’s apartment where we realize he is the great writer Herbert Gold who died 8 weeks after it was filmed.
I met the brothers after seeing the film and had questions about how they filmed it, but Ari’s response was “trade secrets.” They didn’t shut down any streets or block traffic, and the timing from daylight to night is beautiful, making this all the more impressive.
What might sound pretentious is instead joyous and immersive—a celebration of spontaneity, art, and sibling connection. It’s one of the festival’s most surprising and heartfelt works and the music is wonderful, original but its integration into the story reminded me, in a good way, of John Carney’s Once.
Read about the making here.Almost True Stories
Often movies take liberties with the truth when telling about real people. And if we are lucky that makes them very satisfying.
Richard Linklater is one of America’s best contemporary directors. He has created an incredible range of films both in many genres and totally unique. This fall he has two stories based on real artists, songwriter Lorenz Hart and New Wave French director Jean-Luc Godard.
Blue Moon finds songwriter Lorenz Hart at Sardi’s near Broadway in New York on opening night of the musical Oklahoma, the first work that Hart did not write with Richard Rogers. The composer hired Oscar Hammerstein II instead because of Hart’s drinking which made it hard for him to focus on his work. In a stunning performance Ethan Hawke inhabits the character of Hart and is on screen for virtually the entire film while engaging in a series of conversations, often quite bitchy, with the bartender (Bobby Canavale), Richard Rogers (Adam Scott), a college coed (Margaret Qualley) Oscar Hammerstein, Charlotte’s Web author E.B. White, and brief encounters with photographer Weegee and a very knowledgeable young boy named Stephen, as in Sondheim. Throughout the film, we are reminded of Hart’s fantastic contributions to the American Songbook.
Linklater is working on Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along being filmed over 20 years.
Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague is a fictionalized version of the making of Godard‘s Breathless. I’m looking forward to seeing it. Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague will be released in October and further cement Linklater’s place among the most restless and versatile of American storytellers.
Set in a war-torn European town, The Choral follows a ragtag choir struggling to survive after losing most of its young men to the front lines of World War I. When a disgraced conductor—played by Ralph Fiennes—takes over, the group finds unexpected purpose. As to be expected there are a wide variety of personalities and vocal abilities and they all come together for rousing musical finale that transforms what could have been somber into something radiant and redemptive.
Stories Without Borders
Sirat
Olivier Laxe returns to the elemental landscapes that defined Fire Will Come, but Sirat feels more inward and haunted. Shot in spare, golden light, it traces a wanderer’s fragile connection to a world in spiritual and ecological collapse. The director’s patient rhythm and poetic use of silence evoke both ritual and rebirth, suggesting that endurance itself can be an act of grace. Sirat is less a narrative than an invocation — a meditation on loss, exile, and the beauty of staying still long enough to feel the earth breathe. An alternative to Mad Max.
Happy Birthday
Sarah Goher’s tender debut unfolds over one afternoon in Cairo, where a carefully planned birthday becomes a reckoning with family expectations and self-image, as a young girl’s best friend is banned from attending because she is actually an underage servant.. With remarkable economy, Happy Birthday captures the small humiliations and quiet victories of womanhood in a society of constant surveillance. The camera’s intimacy — close, handheld, almost conspiratorial — mirrors the protagonist’s growing self-awareness. Goher displays an intuitive grasp of tone, shifting between humor and heartbreak with precision. The result is a modest but piercing portrait of independence found in the smallest act of defiance as the girl crashes the girl’s birthday party where we experience many surprises, both hilarious and shocking.
Left-Handed Girl
From Taiwan comes Left-Handed Girl, directed by Shih-Ching Tsou, a long-time collaborator with Sean Baker who co-wrote and edited this film.
A single mother struggles to raise two daughters in the bustling night markets of Taipei, while her youngest—told by her grandfather that her left hand is evil—develops dark fantasies about its power. Her older sister learns she is pregnant by her boss and a series of tense conflicts develop, coming to a head as family secrets are revealed—at another birthday party.
Handheld realism and sharp storytelling make this a vibrant and emotional standout with superb performances, reminiscent of Baker’s own work but Tsou has clearly learned to be her own filmmaker.
It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi’s latest is a sly, metafictional lament on culpability and control. When a filmmaker strikes a cyclist on a rural road, the accident spirals into a portrait of guilt and bureaucratic absurdity. It Was Just an Accident expands Panahi’s fascination with blurred lines between art and life; the camera becomes both witness and accomplice. Despite its somber premise, the film glows with empathy and dry humor, reminding us that moral clarity often eludes those who try hardest to capture it. Even under restrictions, Panahi continues to film freedom into existence.
A Tribute to director Panahi is scheduled for Monday, October 6 at the Rafael. The film will also show at BAMPFA on Saturday, October 11.
A Private Life
The quietly dazzling A Private Life examines motherhood, ambition, and self-possession through the story of a psychiatrist investigating the death of a patient. Rebecca Zlotowski’s film is a mystery with unexpected humor, grounding every conflict in intellectual curiosity and emotional precision. Anchored by Jodie Foster’s superb central performance (in French), it explores how professional rigor and personal vulnerability can coexist, revealing her insecurities during a series of Hitchcockian references. Strong support from Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, and Mathieu Amalric.
Hola Frida
A gently stylized animated feature about the life of Frida Kahlo, Hola Frida captures the artist’s surreal imagination and complex identity in a way that appeals to all ages.
Though its animation is simple, its heart and respect for Kahlo’s vision make it a lively and accessible introduction to her world.
Animal Farm
This dazzling CGI adaptation of George Orwell’s classic fable updates the story for modern audiences. Seth Rogen voices (with his grating laugh) the tyrannical pig Napoleon, while Glenn Close steals scenes as a land-grabbing villain reminiscent of her Cruella de Vil.
Irreverent, sharp, and a bit too relevant—Animal Farm proves that Orwell’s warnings still hit close to home.
Witty and political in equal measure, the film balances satire and spectacle without relying on musical numbers—a rarity in contemporary animation. The design is stunning; the dialogue and cultural references are contemporary, leaving the Halas and Batchelor version (1954) far behind.
Kids will enjoy it, missing most of the adult humor and references.
Short Shorts
I have screened many of the short films and am impressed with the superb storytelling and range of stories, both fiction and non-fiction. If you want to see the future of filmmaking, I urge you to select at least one program where you will see films you didn’t expect. Like reading perfect short stories, it is exciting to see filmmakers who understand when brevity is the right choice.
Try Shorts: Tomorrow is Forever to see what students are up to. For new directions in animation try the family friendly college student show, Animation Nation. Check out all of the Shorts shows here.
Final Thoughts
With a slate that ranges from sweeping historical dramas to experimental single-take adventures and powerful documentaries, the Mill Valley Film Festival once again affirms its place as one of the most vital stops on the international film circuit.
It’s a celebration of imagination, craft, and courage—the very qualities that keep the movies alive.
We’re excited to be a community partner for Mill Valley Film Festival, an extraordinary celebration of cinema that brings together filmmakers, artists, and audiences. This year’s lineup of films, discussions, and musical performances will inspire, entertain, and leave a lasting impact on all who attend.
Get tickets + explore the program
Read and/or Download the 224 page Program Book here.
The Festival Schedule Grid is here.
To see photos of filmmakers at the Festival go here.
eatdrinkfilms.com 