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The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale
7.4
/10
7,196 Ratings

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

Directed by Noah Baumbach
United States, 2005
Comedy, Drama

Synopsis

Two young brothers growing up in 1980s Park Slope, Brooklyn, navigate the jagged contours of the divorce of their parents, both writers. The father and mother duke it out in half-civilized, half-savage fashion, while their two sons adapt in different ways, shifting allegiances between parents.

Synopsis

Two young brothers growing up in 1980s Park Slope, Brooklyn, navigate the jagged contours of the divorce of their parents, both writers. The father and mother duke it out in half-civilized, half-savage fashion, while their two sons adapt in different ways, shifting allegiances between parents.

Our take

Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha) turns to his past, Truffaut-style, for one of the best indies of the ’00s. Brilliantly scripted, this wincingly truthful, ’80s-set divorce tragicomedy reminds us that parents are human beings too. And the cast is perfect: Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, and Jesse Eisenberg.