CLOSING NIGHT
(director/writer: Cody Fern; screenwriter: Devon Bostick; cinematographer: Yves Bélanger; editor: Dany Cooper; music: Mathieu David Gagnon; cast: Sarah Paulson (Sandra Vale), Naomi Watts (April), Dianne Wiest (Diane), Odessa A’zion (Lucy), Toby Wallace (Theo); Runtime: 115; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Nancy Grant, Rosalie Chicoine-Perreault, Will Howarth, Matilda Comers; mk2 Films; 2026-USA/Australia/Canada)
“Chatty stage drama about three fragile women from a dysfunctional family.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Cody Fern’s admirable directorial debut is this chatty stage drama about three fragile women from a dysfunctional family. The Aussie is a former actor, who did American Horror Story on American TV. He co-writes it with Devon Bostick (a former child actor). The film’s watchable because of the three great actresses in it.
This is a women’s pic, as 50-year-old stars Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest and Sarah Paulson are superb in material that they make better. The ladies have juicy mature roles that have been hard for them to get in recent times because Hollywood tends to forget about actresses, even great ones, when they age over 40.
Sandra Vale (Sarah Paulson) is a celebrated star, whose Chekhov revival play Mother Courage is about to open on Broadway. She has invited her estranged suburban Michigan single-mom hairdresser sister April (Naomi Watts), her crass salon owner Michigan residing mother Diane (Dianne Wiest) and April’s NYC resident nephew Theo (Toby Wallace), to the show. Also, there’s Theo’s secretly pregnant girlfriend Lucy (Odessa A’zion).
April stays at Theo’s city apartment. She has still not forgiven sis for sleeping with her boyfriend thirty years ago.
At a theater rehearsal, the anxious Sandra flubs her lines and gets so stressed she faints. The sisters reunite at last at the hospital. Things get grim when Sandy receives an Alzheimer diagnosis, and is told she has only a few months to live.
The film turns to dealing with the life-threatening illness and ongoing confrontations among the women family members.
It played at the Toronto Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 10/9/2026 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com