Josephine (Beth de Araújo, 2026) 4½ out of 5 stars
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic winner from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine also happened to be my personal favorite. And yet, it is simultaneously the one I am most hesitant to recommend. It opens on Josephine, an ordinary eight-year-old whose life is forever changed when, while out on a run with her father, she witnesses a brutal rape. With Josephine the sole witness able to testify, she and her parents are left helpless as they navigate the need for justice and the need to protect Josephine and move forward as a family. While the graphic, devastating story requires so much of its viewer, it also offers an incredibly affecting journey that makes the discomfort worthwhile.
The follow-up to Soft & Quiet, Araújo’s underrated, provocative 2022 debut, Josephine marks a major step forward in the career of an exciting new voice in film. With a larger budget, Araújo proves herself more than capable of maintaining her daring themes with even more confident direction. While this film is certainly shocking, it feels less that way for the sake of shock value than its predecessor. Its impact instead comes from the restraint, careful tonal control, and refusal to offer easy catharsis.
It’s no surprise either to see that Araújo is once again working with the same cinematographer as in her debut, Greta Zozula. Soft & Quiet was shot to look like one continuous take, and this manipulative use of the camera to portray certain emotions is also present in Josephine. From the opening moments, Araújo and Zozula establish a distinct visual language that takes on Josephine’s point of view. The assault scene, which is captured from a distance that feels almost cold and neutral, especially calls attention to our protagonist’s complete inability, as a child, to comprehend what she is seeing unfold in front of her. The creative camerawork throughout captures the way Josephine filters her trauma through her innocent and imaginative mind, but it also creates a difficult contrast to the darkness of the truth the viewer clearly understands.
The performances, perhaps more than anything, are undeniably strong. As Josephine’s parents, Gemma Chan (The Creator) and Channing Tatum (Roofman) are totally captivating in their grief, anger, and resilience. Their conflicting instincts as they try to help Josephine convey so much history for their characters as both parents and as individuals. As the titular Josephine, Mason Reeves is a force to be reckoned with. Her messy, audacious, and curious portrayal breathes life into a challenging character.
The film places the viewer directly in the trenches of their lives. It is not for everyone, and the heaviness of it all is tangible from beginning to end. By the time the film finds its form of resolution, however, that weight feels necessary to fully give the subject its due feeling. It may be relentless and nearly unbearable, but Josephine is a thoughtful and surprisingly hopeful tour de force that truly cares about the people on screen.
Hannah Tran
Hannah Tran is a filmmaker, writer, and friendly neighborhood barista from Las Vegas. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Film and English and is currently working on her first feature film. In her spare time, she can be found attending film festivals, running a local book club, and, of course, devouring as many movies as possible.