Writer-director-producer Noah Baumbach dazzles in his first film since his acclaimed Marriage Story(MVFF42 Ensemble Award) with this exquisite, epic adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 National Book Award-winning novel. It is a towering achievement that folds satires of academia, consumerism, and fear of death into an exploration of the family, a theme Baumbach has so brilliantly mined throughout his career in such films as The Squid and the Whale (MVFF28) and Margot at the Wedding (MVFF30). At a Midwestern college, middle-aged Jack (Adam Driver) is a superstar professor who pioneered the field of Hitler studies. He and his fourth wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) share brainy, verbal children from their various marriages in a happy household but one threatened by both internal and external forces. Don Cheadle adds a striking supporting turn as Murray, a professor starting a new field of Elvis studies with whom Jack shares kinship and friendly rivalry. Director: Noah Baumbach (US 2022) 136 min.