In 1951, Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with anti-Semitism, sexual repression, and the ongoing Korean War.
Acting
Logan Lerman's controlled fury; Sarah Gadon's devastating fragility.
Direction
Schamus's debut: every frame feels like a held breath.
Writing
That 18-minute dean's office scene is a masterclass in escalating dread.
Director
James Schamus
Logan Lerman
Marcus Messner
Sarah Gadon
Olivia Hutton
Tracy Letts
Dean Caudwell
Linda Emond
Esther Messner
Joanne Baron
Mrs. Greenberg
Ben Rosenfield
Bertram Flusser
Philip Ettinger
Ron Foxman
Pico Alexander
Sonny Cottler
Noah Robbins
Marty Ziegler
Danny Burstein
Max Messner
Susan Varon
Mrs. Dadidovich
Bryan Burton
Ben
Steven Kaplan
Anker
Richard Topol
Mo Greenberg
Isabel Keating
Miss Clement
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
James Schamus, longtime Ang Lee collaborator, made his directorial debut at 56—proving you can teach old screenwriters new tricks.
The film captures a specific postwar Jewish-American anxiety: the fear that assimilation requires a complete erasure of self.
US
