QUICK HIT: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey [2025]

January 23, 2026

1–2 minutes

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Columbia Pictures, Kogonada, Sony Pictures Releasing

Rating: R | Runtime: 109 minutes
Release Date: September 19th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing
Director(s): Kogonada
Writer(s): Seth Reiss

Doors are tricky.

Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is very much a “me” movie. It lives in an A Life Less Ordinary vein seen through a “Pushing Daisies” filter and that description of its tragically whimsical aesthetic is pretty much my ideal for romance when it comes to pop culture’s willingness to take a swing. And while it’s certainly a tonal departure from the films Kogonada has written himself, Seth Reiss’ script definitely still fits his visual and emotional sensibilities.

Is it cheesy? Yes. That’s the point. Is it heartfelt and cathartic? Yes. That’s what allows it to be so cheesy (although its reception seems to put me in the minority on that fact). Just like David (Colin Farrell) and Sarah (Margot Robbie) are presented the opportunity to take a risk and embrace life outside comfort zones built from decades of self-sabotage and low self-worth, the film is asking us to throw pretense out the window and let love shine.

An absolute wild cast with wilder accents (Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s German, Hamish Linklater’s Irish, and Kevin Kline’s Tom Waits) keeps the fun ratcheted to an eleven as the heavy gut-punches land with increased precision behind each subsequent door. And I love that it isn’t about thrusting soulmates together as much as using two souls to stir something dormant from within each other to reclaim their desire for hope. Romance is simply a viable result of success.