LATE FAME

Forgotten New York poet Ed Saxberger, magnificently played by Willem Dafoe, lives a modest life working at the post office, until a young admirer unexpectedly appears, hailing him as a visionary whose work has been unjustly overlooked. Drawn into a group of twentysomething artists and intellectuals who treat him as their rediscovered muse, Saxberger is seduced by their flattery, their feverish energy, and the mysterious Gloria, the circle’s self-styled “tragic heroine”, portrayed by Greta Lee (Past Lives). But as admiration curdles into self-interest, he begins to question the sincerity of their devotion, and his own need for recognition. Set in Manhattan’s West Village and SoHo, this thoughtful, witty film, adapted by Samy Burch from a 1895 novella by Arthur Schnitzler, is a wistful yet unromantic look at a lost idea of downtown New York.