rebecca hall – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Rebecca Hall is Guest Director at Telluride Film Fest 2026 – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 3, 2026September 3, 2026 Brandy McDonnell a24, Julie Huntsinger, netflix, rebecca hall, telluride film festival

Acclaimed British-American actress, writer and director Rebecca Hall is serving as guest director for the 2026 Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. Hall is selecting a series of films to present at the 53rd festival, running Sept. 4-7. Festival organizers annually select a top film enthusiast to join in the creation of the festival’s program lineup. The guest director serves as a key collaborator in Telluride Film Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas, unique perspectives and overlooked films to the festival. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Hall’s film selections, along with the rest of the festival lineup, will remain a secret until just before opening day.

Festivals Reviews

THE END OF IT (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 22, 2026 Diane Carson Beanie Feldstein, Cannes 2026, catalan films, gael garcia bernal, Maria Martínez Bayona, noomi rapace, Paloma Peñarrubia, rebecca hall, The End of It

The End of It confronts immortality. Claire Fort has a serious problem. On the occasion of her 250th birthday, she is fed up with immortality, even though she holds one of the select designated spots in that distinguished category of those who will not die. But now, clearly despondent, Claire (Rebecca Hall) reluctantly greets her boring friends, so predictably repetitive that she knows they will inevitably throw her into the swimming pool to celebrate, yet again, another year. With this daring premise, writer/director Maria Martínez Bayona tackles a controversial contemporary issue: the desire for and scientific strategies to extend life.

Festivals Interviews

Maria Martínez Bayona talks THE END OF IT (Cannes 2026) – Jennifer Green interviews

May 16, 2026May 17, 2026 Jennifer Green Beanie Feldstein, Cannes 2026, catalan films, gael garcia bernal, Maria Martínez Bayona, noomi rapace, rebecca hall

For a young Spanish director to make her first feature film in English with a Euros 8 million ($9.4m) budget—more than double the Spanish average—and with internationally renowned actors like Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace, Gael García Bernal and Beanie Feldstein is unusual. For her film to be invited to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival is even more out of the ordinary.

Festivals Reviews

THE LISTENERS (TIFF 2024) – Review by Beth Accomando

September 16, 2024September 15, 2024 Beth Accomando Janicza Bravo, Jordan Tannahill, Ollie West, rebecca hall, series, The Listeners, TIFF 2024

Very few films or shows ask us to listen in new ways. Plenty of works push the envelope on visuals through cinematography, special effects, and even production design. But rare are films that explore the audio world and push beyond just sound design to ask us to hear the world differently. The new series The Listeners (episodes one and two screening at TIFF) kicks off with an episode that puts us in the head of a teacher who begins to hear sounds that no one else seems to notice. The first episode emphasizes how she is hearing the world, how a low persistent hum starts to drown out the sounds she used to pay attention to like people talking. As the series progresses, it becomes less about how she hears the world and more about how her different perception of it impacts her life. But that first episode has an exciting freshness in how it focuses on sound.

Festivals Reviews

THE LISTENER (Tribeca 2023) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 11, 2023June 12, 2023 Valerie Kalfrin Anka Malatynska, rebecca hall, steve buscemi, tessa thompson, The Listener

In the wee hours of the morning, a woman walks onto her porch, talking on the phone with someone she’s just met. The caller, a college professor freshly out of a job, has no close family or friends—and no rational argument against killing herself. She didn’t always think this way, she says, her voice calm, analytical. “Sometimes the energy to live exceeds the benefit.” What to say to someone like her? As the conversation unfolds over twenty-six minutes in the meditative drama The Listener, we’re riveted, a testament to the power of empathy and connection in a world often aching with loneliness.

Reviews

RESURRECTION – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

July 28, 2022July 29, 2022 Valerie Kalfrin Andrew Semans, Grace Kaufman, rebecca hall, Resurrection, tim roth

The trauma of an abusive relationship resurfaces in Resurrection, a thriller that Rebecca Hall centers with a get-under-your-skin performance, even as the film turns into bonkers territory. For a while, Resurrection lives in that relatable, uneasy space when something reminds us of a version of ourselves we thought we’d outgrown. The gory climax leaves viewers wondering what they’ve just watched—and if the running time was worth the trouble.

Reviews

PASSING – Review by MaryAnn Johanson

January 18, 2022January 20, 2022 MaryAnn Johanson motw, Movie of the Week, nella larsen, Passing, rebecca hall

Everything about Passing, the astonishing and just-plain-satisfying debut of actor Rebecca Hall as a writer and director, feels like a revelation. This is a movie that is simultaneously incredibly modern, like it could only have been made today, but also could be a little treasure rediscovered from pre-Code Hollywood.

Reviews

PASSING – Review by Martha K Baker

October 24, 2021October 31, 2021 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) motw, Movie of the Week, nella larsen, Passing, rebecca hall, Ruth Negga

Passing moves slowly, allowing time to admire the period furniture, brownstones, and filmy, dropped-waist dresses. The film’s pace is as deceptive as the characters’ lives. Rebecca Hall’s Passing expands Nella Larson’s story beyond the Nineteen-Twenties into the Twenty-Twenties.

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK October 29, 2021: PASSING

October 23, 2021November 4, 2021 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, liz whittemore, loren king, Marilyn Ferdinand., motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nella larsen, Pam Grady, Passing, rebecca hall, Ruth Negga, sherin nicole

Based on Nella Larsen’s same-named novella, Rebecca Hall’s powerful 1920s-set directorial debut, Passing, tells the story of two friends — Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Ruth Negga) — who unexpectedly reunite after a long separation, only to discover that their lives have taken very different trajectories. As it reveals what happens after their paths re-cross, the film examines complex issues related to race, identity, marriage, motherhood, and more.

Reviews

PASSING – Review by Jennifer Merin

October 18, 2021October 29, 2021 awfj-admin motw, Movie of the Week, nella larsen, Passing, rebecca hall, Ruth Negga

Passing is Rebecca Hall’s beautifully realized directorial debut. Written, produced, and directed by Hall, the film is an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 eponymous novel about two Black women who were best friends during their childhood days in Harlem and who, after having gone their separate ways for decades, are accidentally reunited in the tea room of a downtown NYC hotel.

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