“Notice to Quit” Blends Chaos, Intrigue, and Family Drama

Notice to Quit (Simon Hacker, 2024) 3 out of 5 stars

In his feature film debut, Notice to Quit, director and writer Simon Hacker offers up the story of a particularly hot and stifling day in New York City. Andy (Michael Zegen, The Stand In), a harried and not-so-talented real-estate agent, feebly attempts to climb the ladder to success, having dug himself into a hole sometime prior. He’s taken to casing the empty properties he can’t rent, swiping left-behind appliances, and selling them.

With Andy’s would-be criminal associate, Jed (Michael Angelo Covino, News of the World) breathing down his neck, he faces failure in every direction, including his own eviction. When his daughter, Anna (Kasey Bella Suarez, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah) appears and interrupts all his plans, she requests quality time with him. She’s due to move to Orlando with her mother (Isabel Arraiza, The Little Things) by the end of the day. Andy tries to brush her off and drop her somewhere, but she refuses to be discarded. The two eventually negotiate, team up, and even share moments of connection.

Notice to Quit is a bit of a genre mashup; part road-trip movie, part heist/family drama/comedy, with even a whiff of gritty crime thriller. Shot on 35mm by Mika Altskan (Smadar), the film makes you feel the heavy heat of the day, the tense stakes, and the vast and dense distances these characters must trek all across the city. The emotional turn towards the end comes when what little is left of Andy’s good luck fails as a result of a split-second, priority-determining decision, and the tone of the story shifts with it.

This comes just before sundown, which plunges the remainder of the film into a different color palette. It’s subtle, but makes the point far more effectively than any of the dialogue, although that, too, shifts from the overabundance and rapid-fire pace of the previous section into much more restraint. It’s one of the best parts about the movie and throws the first two acts into stark contrast with the conclusion in the best way.

While the forced familial-bonding setup is a familiar-enough premise, at least in the broad strokes, there’s just enough going on to make the narrative feel fresh. However, the mix of genres can make it difficult to get one’s bearings. That’s partially the idea; this movie is an anxiety-ridden experience, leaving us, the audience, in no doubt of just how fast Andy’s life is coming apart at the seams.

The story does not build to a conclusion that wraps everything up in a nice bow but does offer some genuine warmth between potential panic attacks. The cynical final note opts for a comedic beat over something more heartwarming. This film could have benefitted from a bit more earnest sentimentality, but what is here, though frantic, is thoughtful and does not remotely bother to pull its punches.

Robin C. Farrell

Robin C. Farrell is an editor, videographer, author, and nerd. Video production lead for Trail Grid Pro in Frederick, MD, she also competes in annual film races as part of Star Wipe Films. Farrell self-published her first book, Resistance Rising: A Genre Wars Novel,, and is the co-host and producer of Coffee & Contemplation, a Stranger Things podcast.