September 19, 2025 · Watch the official trailer
There’s a small niche of cinema where the third film from director Kogonada fits perfectly. And it’s not the fun and frivolous romantic comedy one might expect from the movie’s more whimsical trailers.
Deep emotions, melancholy, and self-reflection are at the heart of “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” a film more in conversation with its audience about dating philosophy than romance.
This strangely eccentric and avant-garde dramedy perhaps considers itself more profound than it actually is. Yet, there’s something so charming about the ride that Kogonada takes audiences on, which could prove fruitful for the right discerning cinephile.
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” finds Colin Farrell as a middle-aged man, wandering aimlessly through life. When a series of unlikely events – which could be described as fate, destiny, or some other unexplained predetermined circumstances – places him in the world of an equally charming yet emotionally distant woman played by Margot Robbie, they find themselves at the wedding of mutual friends.
Following the directions of an all-knowing GPS system, these two strangers are taken on the titular ride of their lives. “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” relies heavily on suspension of disbelief to keep viewers engaged, and there is a wonderfully lighthearted charm to the film’s premise and overall narrative structure. However, it can easily be viewed as overindulgent and melancholic throughout.
What holds the film together are the emotionally resonant performances from its Academy Award-nominated leads.
Farrell’s tightrope act of brooding self-pity mixed with the self-reinforcing, hopeless romantic persona his character adopts to get through life gives his David a tender balance between earnest simplicity and emotional complexity that works far better than the film perhaps deserves credit for.
The genuine emotion at the heart of David comes shining through in a truly affecting performance that often works best when Farrell is pensively alone on screen or opposite the film’s secondary characters.
Robbie is equally compelling as Sarah, who could easily and reductively be described as a modern twist on the classic manic pixie dream girl persona that many romantic comedies saddle their female characters with.
Yet, Robbie’s ability to mine a much richer character arc in the film’s secondary storylines gives Sarah much-needed relatability and emotional sympathy from audiences. This really ties the film together, balancing Sarah and David on an equal playing field.
One of the best parts about “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is Kogonada’s unique eye for camera placement and production design, which creates a world grounded just enough in reality to allow the fantasy elements of the narrative to truly shine.
Like many other successful films in this genre, color palette and background placement are uniquely important in furthering the storytelling and providing a visual throughline. The film’s bright, bold contrasting colors help reinforce character and emotion, working terrifically in tandem with the decision to have rainfall become almost a secondary character in the film itself, representing the external forces at work bringing these two strangers together.
The biggest issue with the film, however, is the lack of romantic chemistry generated in the screenplay from writer Seth Reiss, who never really develops a compelling reason for David and Sarah to be paired by fate and the lackluster wrap-up of this part of the narrative in the film’s final moments falls flat.
While it might not be a commercial or critical success, movie lovers who enjoy fanciful wanderlust and non-traditional romance might find “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” something worth checking out at home when it hits a streaming service later this fall, though there isn’t enough depth to this middling dramedy to make it a must-see in theaters.
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