In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch's funeral, they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover Walid.
Acting
Paul Bettany's fragile, ferocious Frank breaks your heart twice.
Writing
Alan Ball turns family dinner into psychological warfare.
Production
Seventies aesthetic so precise you'll smell the cigarettes.
Director
Alan Ball
Paul Bettany
Frank
Sophia Lillis
Beth
Peter Macdissi
Wally
Steve Zahn
Mike
Stephen Root
Daddy Mac
Judy Greer
Kitty
Margo Martindale
Mammaw
Lois Smith
Aunt Butch
Jane McNeill
Neva
Caity Brewer
Marcia
Cole Doman
16-year-old Frank
Michael Perez
16-year-old Sam
Hannah Black
Janis
Banks Repeta
11-year-old Bullet
Burgess Jenkins
Beau
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Peter Macdissi improvised much of Wally's warmth; Ball wrote the role specifically for him after their Six Feet Under collaboration.
The film's 1973 setting deliberately echoes pre-Stonewall isolation, when even Manhattan queerness required elaborate compartmentalization.
US
