Josh Safdie
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“Fake Stuff Makes Me Feel Sick”: John Wilson on The History of Concrete
The History of Concrete, John Wilson’s first feature-length film, is far stranger and more compelling than the title suggests—and a perfect continuation of his oft-meandering, always philosophical practice. Yes, there are novel factoids about Ancient Rome, the removal of gum from city sidewalks and the oldest concrete road in America, but the plot often shifts and transmogrifies, in true Wilsonian fashion, before circling back to the topic at hand. For some, this constant zooming—out, in, away entirely—can be frustratingly disorienting. For those who enjoy the visual approximation of falling down a (preferably weed-induced) Wikipedia rabbit hole, this is non-fiction at […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 24, 2026 -
Tension and Releases: Editor Ronald Bronstein on “Marty Supreme”
Ronald Bronstein premiered his feature Frownland at South by Southwest the same year as Josh Safdie’s short We’re Going to the Zoo played, and he felt a pang of insecurity when he saw it. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s somebody also vying for the same kind of immediacy,” said the veteran writer-editor. “It was like my feet were made of lead; this guy was like a helium balloon.” Back in New York City, Josh introduced himself to Bronstein and convinced him to play a character based on his own father. Bronstein helped write and edit the project, which […]
by Vikram Murthi on Dec 22, 2025 -
Motherload: Mary Bronstein on “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
With If I Had Legs I’d Kick You opening today from A24, we’re unlocking from behind our paywall Natalia Keogan’s interview with Bronstein, which is the cover story of our Fall, 2025 edition. — Editor “Something very bad is happening,” young mother Caroline (Danielle Macdonald) whimpers amid oncoming tears during a routine therapy appointment. In the throes of a severe bout of postpartum depression exacerbated by a lack of support from her husband, Caroline’s hour-long sessions at Montauk’s “Center for Psychological Arts” are a brief respite from a world that, in her mind, is more violent and evil than anyone […]
by Natalia Keogan on Sep 17, 2025 -
“It Pushed Me to the Limits of My Ability and Experience as a Filmmaker”: Matt Wolf on His Emmy-Nominated Pee-wee As Himself
Throughout his career, documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf has excelled at portraits of complicated artists and individuals whose work is both highly idiosyncratic as well as, at least seen in retrospect, emergent from specific cultural, social and political milieus. Early work include two films — a short, Smalltown Boys, and his feature debut, Wild Combination — about, respectively, two seminal downtown New York figures of the ’70s and ’80s, artist David Wojnarowicz and composer Arthur Russell. The 2017 short Bayard and Me looked at the relationship between civil rights leader Bayard Rustin through the lens of his relationship with boyfriend Walter […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 15, 2025 -
Hat in Hand
In September 2015, I launched a Kickstarter campaign—a tongue-in-cheek effort to raise $308 to make 12 hats embroidered with the word “movies.” Three years later, I find myself president of Movies Brand, a company that has released more than 30 products emblazoned with the word “movies,” worn by the likes of Mel Brooks, Josh Safdie, Ana Lily Amirpour, Larry Karaszewski and some 2,000 others. So, how did a Kickstarter joke turn into a real business? Well, it depends on what you mean by a real business. Some background may be in order here. My first love wasn’t hats. It was […]
by Kentucker Audley on Sep 17, 2018 -
All Day and a Night: Josh and Benny Safdie on Good Time
I’m in the Safdie brothers’ office in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, looking at a giant Japanese King of New York poster, and we’re talking about fired FBI director James Comey, whose awkward dinner with Donald Trump has just hit the news. “The guy is 6 foot, 8 inches,” Benny says. Or maybe it’s Josh. My tape recorder isn’t turned on yet, and the two talk rapid-fire, trading sentence fragments and out-exclaiming each other. “And he refused to play basketball with Obama! The one president who played basketball, Comey would be the tallest guy on the court, and he didn’t want […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 16, 2017 -
DP Sean Price Williams on Shooting 2-Perf 35mm for the Cannes Competition Film Good Time
“Hey, it’s me,” said Sean Price Williams as he walked up to me at the after-party for Josh and Benny Safdie’s simply fantastic Good Time in Cannes last week. It did take me a second to recognize Williams — cleanly shaven, in a spiffy tux and strolling around a Dior-sponsored event for a film in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. If Williams seemed like a bit of a happy anomaly there, it’s because, like Good Time itself, the DP has ascended to cinema’s most revered platform with work that’s wholly of a piece with the raw, street-level […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 30, 2017 -
Trailer Watch: Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time, Starring Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie
One of my most anticipated films of the summer is Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time, which premieres in a few days in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. The first trailer has just dropped from A24, and it shows Robert Pattinson as a bank robber trying to get his accomplice — his brother, played by Benny Safdie — sprung from Rikers Island. Jennifer Jason Leigh appears as well as Buddy Duress, who co-starred in the Safdies’ previous Heaven Knows What. It’s a heartbreaker of a trailer scored to an original song by Oneohtrix Point Never and Iggy […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 16, 2017 -
Trailer Watch: Josh and Benny Safdie’s Heaven Knows What
Timed to the SXSW debut of Josh and Benny Safdie’s Heaven Knows What is the film’s latest trailer from Radius. With stark, declarative titles attesting to the authenticity of the film’s storyline — Heaven Knows What is based on a memoir by the film’s star, Arielle Holmes, detailing her life on the streets while addicted to heroin — the trailer is a bold edit capturing the movie’s beguiling blend of underground romance and urban nightmare. Heaven Knows What opens later this Spring.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 14, 2015 -
Tribeca 2013 Critic’s Notebook #3: On The Margins
It’s easy to feel cheated at film festivals, especially ones that charge $18 per ticket. (Does Tribeca still do that?) You couldn’t get into this screening or you missed that party or the awards because you couldn’t find a cab or had to file some copy. The publicist you have a crush on just isn’t that into you. Cry me a river. And then the awards have been given, the parties have been had, the distribution panel nameplates thrown in the trash. The clock is ticking, always, and you can never see or do everything. Funny, when you’re young, you […]
by Brandon Harris on Apr 29, 2013
