Fremont (film)

Fremont is a 2023 American drama film directed by Babak Jalali and co-written by Carolina Cavalli.[5][6] It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT section on January 20, 2023,[7] and screened at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival.[8][9]

Fremont
Directed byBabak Jalali
Written by
Produced by
  • Marjaneh Moghimi
  • Sudnya Shroff
  • Rachael Fung
  • George Rush
  • Chris Martin
  • Laura Wagner
Starring
CinematographyLaura Valladao
Edited byBabak Jalali
Music byMahmood Schricker
Production
companies
  • A Butimar Productions
  • Extra A Productions
  • Blue Morning Pictures[1]
Distributed byMusic Box Films
Release dates
  • January 20, 2023 (2023-01-20) (Sundance)
  • August 25, 2023 (2023-08-25) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
Languages
Box office$340,519[3][4]

Premise

Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her 20s drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.[10][11]

Cast
  • Anaita Wali Zada as Donya
  • Gregg Turkington as Dr. Anthony
  • Jeremy Allen White as Daniel
  • Hilda Schmelling as Joanna
  • Avis See-tho as Fan
  • Siddique Ahmed as Salim
  • Taban Ibraz as Mina
  • Timur Nusratty as Suleyman
  • Eddie Tang as Ricky
  • Jennifer McKay as Lin
  • Boots Riley as himself
  • Alina Hubbard-Riley as herself

Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023. It was released in theaters on August 25, 2023.[12]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 36 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[14]

Reviewing the film for Variety, Tomris Laffry wrote, "The biggest achievement of Jalali here is the precise tone that he strikes with his mild-mannered movie: never cutesy...and always several feet deeper in its themes and deliberations around human isolation than meets the eye. Communicating with expressively wide-set eyes and the resolute gaze of someone who always knows and observes more than they admit, Zada's performance helps achieve the film's tricky balance...As the film's wistful lead, Zada gives the minor-key impression of an intriguing personality worth getting to know better and, who knows, maybe even solve the mysteries of the universe together."[10] Laffry concluded, "In its final moments, the potency of Fremont sneaks up on you. You go in reluctant and even skeptical, and come out wondering how and why you're moved to tears."[10]

The Guardian's Wendy Ide described it as "admirably understated film-making" and praised Jeremy Allen White's performance which "tears out our hearts with two immaculate scenes of inarticulate longing."[15]

References
  1. "Florian Zeller, Federica Sainte-Rose's Blue Morning Pictures boards Sundance-bound 'Fremont'". Screen Daily. January 17, 2023. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  2. "Fremont (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  3. "Fremont". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  4. "Fremont". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  5. Feldberg, Isaac (February 1, 2023). "'Fremont': Babak Jalali & Anaita Wali Zada On Their Delightful & Comically Offbeat Sundance Gem [Interview]". theplaylist.net. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  6. ""The Process Is Similar to the One I Go Through When I Direct": Editor Babak Jalali on Fremont". Filmmaker. February 6, 2023. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  7. "Fremont". sundance.org. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  8. "Fremont". SXSW. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  9. Bergeson, Samantha (February 1, 2023). "SXSW 2023 Announces Opening and Closing Night TV Selections with Donald Glover's 'Swarm' and Lee Sung Jin's 'Beef'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  10. Laffly, Tomris (February 2, 2023). "'Fremont' Review: Unearthed by Sundance, This Minor-Key Immigrant Tale Is Sweet and Sneakily Powerful". Variety. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023.
  11. Zhan, Jennifer (January 27, 2023). "Fremont Is a Response to a 'Fallacy' About Women in Afghanistan". Vulture.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023.
  12. Lattanzio, Ryan (August 2, 2023). "An Afghan Translator Finds Her Voice in Sundance Gem Starring Anaita Wali Zada and Jeremy Allen White". Indiewire. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  13. "Fremont". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  14. "Fremont". Metacritic. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  15. Ide, Wendy (September 17, 2023). "Fremont review – utterly delightful Jarmuschian drama". The Guardian.
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