Rifkin’s Festival (2022)
55%RT Audience Score: 46%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 2 nominations
While it doesn’t rank among Woody Allen’s truly lesser late-period efforts, Rifkin’s Festival finds the filmmaker content to revisit well-worn territory.
If you’re looking for a movie to watch on a rainy day, Rifkin’s Festival might not be the best choice. Critics are calling it Woody Allen’s worst film yet, and it’s hard to disagree. While the direction and cinematography are solid, the jokes fall flat and the story feels tired and repetitive. But hey, if you’re a die-hard Woody Allen fan, you might find something to enjoy. Just don’t expect a masterpiece.
Production Company(ies)
Pathé Consortium Cinéma Indusfilms Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma
Distributor
MPI Media Group
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Donostia-San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, Spain
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for suggestive/sexual material and some drug use, language and thematic elements
Year of Release
2020
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:2.00 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 32m
-
Language(s):English, Spanish, Swedish
-
Country of origin:United States, Italy, Spain
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 28, 2022 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 28, 2022
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
Rifkin’s Festival, Woody Allen, Letty Aronson, Erika Aronson, Jaume Roures, Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, Christoph Waltz, Sergi López, Comedy, PG-13, box office, budget, reviewed by James Berardinelli, Amy Nicholson, Glenn Kenny, Gary Goldstein, Rafer Guzman, Elizabeth Weitzman, María Fernanda Mugica, Alejandro Alemán, Hugo Hernández Valdivia, Brandon Judell, Yasser Medina, Kyle Smith, Mort Rifkin, Sue, San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain, film studies professor, publicist, young buzzed-about film director client, Philippe, frayed relationship, Jo Rojas, tempestuous painter Paco, personal tastes, shared sensibility
Worldwide gross: $1,746,731
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,993,309
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,420
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 217,373
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Gina Gershon – Sue
Elena Anaya – Jo Rojas
Louis Garrel – Philippe
Christoph Waltz – Death
Sergi López – Paco
Director(s)
Woody Allen
Writer(s)
Woody Allen
Producer(s)
Letty Aronson, Erika Aronson, Jaume Roures
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (78) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (46)
The possibility exists, of course, that Allen still has another masterpiece or two left but, with every middling effort like A Rainy Day in New York or Rifkin’s Festival, it can be difficult to hold the faith.
January 29, 2022 | Rating: 2/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
It really feels like Woody restlessly needing to make a movie, even if there’s less and less interest in watching it.
January 29, 2022
Amy Nicholson
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
TOP CRITIC
Allen’s direction, with Vittorio Storaro lensing, is typically fluid. If you’re at all inclined to view this movie, you’ll find it’s very easy to take in.
January 28, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Glenn Kenny
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
Woody Allen’s 49th feature, “Rifkin’s Festival,” is arguably his worst.
January 28, 2022
Gary Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s tempting to view “Rifkin’s Festival” as a final referendum on a once universally admired filmmaker. In reality, it’s merely another halfhearted effort, the kind we’ve seen from Allen many times before.
January 27, 2022 | Rating: 2/4
Rafer Guzman
Newsday
TOP CRITIC
For his 49th feature film, Allen returns to a well that is not so much dry as desiccated.
January 26, 2022
Elizabeth Weitzman
TheWrap
TOP CRITIC
The jokes don’t achieve the intended impact… Melancholy ends up beating comedy. [Full review in Spanish]
May 18, 2022 | Rating: 2/5
María Fernanda Mugica
La Nación (Argentina)
Absolutely derivative.
[Full review in Spanish]
May 12, 2022
Alejandro Alemán
El Universal
Allen once again displays a warm and solvent style.
[Full review in Spanish]
May 12, 2022 | Rating: 75/100
Hugo Hernández Valdivia
Cinexcepción
The directors latest, a pungent paean to Neurosis with a capital N plus a master’s bow to the classic films of Buñuel, Fellini, Welles, et al. . . boasts several bona fide laughs and many more wry observations. Shawn displays a marvelous world weariness.
April 19, 2022 | Rating: 7/10
Brandon Judell
CultureCatch
Allen deals with the usual topics of nostalgia, cinema and dreams, but his romantic comedy seems encapsulated in a narrative inertia in which everything is infinitely flat and repetitive. Full review in Spanish
April 16, 2022 | Rating: 4/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
I’d love to be able to report that the film is good. It isn’t. But there are little glimmers of smart ideas in it.
March 9, 2022
Kyle Smith
National Review…
Plot
Retired film studies professor Mort Rifkin accompanies his publicist wife to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where he meets a kindred spirit and his relationship with her deepens.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Louis Garrel, who plays Philippe in Rifkin’s Festival, is known for his work in French cinema and has been nominated for multiple César Awards.
Woody-Allen.jpg
