JOSEPHINE
(director/writer: Beth de Araujo; cinematographer: Greta Zozula; editors: Anisha Acharya, Nico Leunen, Kyle Reiter; music: Miles Ross; cast: Mason Reeves (Josephine), Channing Tatum (Damien), Gemma Chan (Claire), Philip Ettinger (Greg), Syra McCarthy (Sandra), Eleanore Pienta (Kerry), Michael Angelo Covino (Francisco Castellanos), Dana Millican (Miss Hoffman), Stefanie Estes (Mrs. Volk), Michael X. Sommers (Mr. Larson); Runtime: 114; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Beth de Araújo, Marina Stabile, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mark H. Rapaport, Josh Beirne-Golden, Crystine Zhang; Spark Features; 2026)
“A remarkable family drama.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Beth de Araujo (“Soft & Quiet”) intelligently writes and directs this crime drama that gets under your skin. It’s a poignant but distressing film about how an average American family deals with female fear and male aggression.
The innocent 8-year-old Josephine (Mason Reeves) witnesses a violent rape of a jogger (Syra McCarthy) early Sunday morning at Golden State Park in San Francisco and is shaken. Her loving father Damien (Channing Tatum) was not there because he was jogging and she was left alone when she ran ahead of him. Dad catches up with her to see her in distress and calls the police, who will arrest the rapist (Philip Ettinger) in the park. At his trial Josephine will be called as a witness and is key to convicting the rapist when the vic doesn’t want to get involved.
After the powerful setup, the film goes on about the incident being constantly played back in the innocent girl’s head and the inability of her well-meaning but flawed parents (the father Damian & the mother Claire (Gemma Chan) to deal with it so their daughter can return to being normal. Mom treats her sweetly and takes her for therapy, while the soccer-loving dad takes her to classes that teach her self-defense when Josephine refuses to go to therapy. Meanwhile the girl has no idea about what sex is, and the parents offer no explanation. Macho Dad tries to reassure her that this terrible thing will never happen to her.
The film works well because Mason Reeves is brilliantly natural as the little girl, while Tatum and Chan are convincingly real as the befuddled parents who truly love their daughter but are limited in their ability to help her.
It’s a remarkable family drama, that brings out the family’s pains and joys.
It played at the Sundance Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 2/27/2026 GRADE: A-
dennisschwartzreviews.com