Canadian Premiere
George Clooney — sorry, Jay Kelly — is going through some things. He’s a world-famous movie star, a kind of latter-day Cary Grant with devilish good looks, charm, and urbanity. His success has exceeded all reasonable expectation, so why does he feel a nagging dissatisfaction? They say he only ever plays himself, but how can that be when he barely knows who he is in the first place? Touring Europe with his friend and manager Ron (Adam Sandler), Jay starts to ask himself some tough questions and reflect on the choices he’s made. Is this a meaningful life? Is change possible?
Jay Kelly is a wise and witty comedy from director Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story; Frances Ha) and co-writer Emily Mortimer, featuring an all-star cast.
Missed it at VIFF? Catch it at the VIFF Centre after the festival.
Supported by
Media Partner
George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards
USA/UK/Italy
2025
English
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Donald Sabourin, Emily Mortimer
Producer
David Heyman, Amy Pascal, Noah Baumbach
Screenwriter
Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer
Cinematography
Linus Sandgren
Editor
Valerio Bonelli, Rachel Durance
Production Design
Mark Tildesley
Original Music
Nicholas Britell
Noah Baumbach
Filmography: Kicking and Screaming (1995); Mr. Jealousy (1997); Greenberg (2010); Frances Ha (2012); Marriage Story (2019); White Noise (2022)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.