Love, Brooklyn - A Sundance Review

We will always figure it out.

Love, Brooklyn premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Set in Brooklyn, New York, the film follows a group of adults navigating their lives and relationships. They come to realize the only way to move forward is to embrace new experiences.

I always look forward to the Sundance Film Festival every year. The festival explores a diverse selection of films with relatable themes about life. Love, Brooklyn is a quiet story that exhibits a loud surface. This film meets the exact definition of the complexities of adulthood. Don’t get stuck in the groove, and keep building yourself.

The cast incorporates the talents of Andre Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Ray Wood Jr., Cadence Reese, and Joshua Boone. All these characters are intricate. Everyone does a good job with emotions, working with pain, and bearing more weight than they should. They’re us. We’re trying to figure our lives out.

I watched Holland (Roger) in Exhibiting Forgiveness, where he conquered a deeply emotional performance. His character is more subtle in this film but depicts a different reaction to how people hold the pain inside them.

The cast embarked on Love, Brooklyn with a community effort. Making this film helped inspire their connections and creativity. They improvised in some scenes to bring out their character’s quirks. Beharie (Casey) is a strong example. Casey desires to create something new, but her work doesn’t impact her creativity. She also enacts quiet sadness very well.

Relationships are a central theme in Love, Brooklyn. Adulthood is tough, but having friends makes it easier. The dialogue feels natural as the characters engage in several conversations. Sometimes, they bypass the dilemma, often sidestepping the real problem. This avoidance leads to conflicts, as they struggle to be honest about their true feelings.

Along with watching Sundance movies, listening to the interview portion is one of my favorite parts. The story behind the making of this film is inspiring. Love, Brooklyn spent six years in development. It wasn’t easy to get this film on its feet. Ever committed, the team did not give up wanting to share this story with the world.

Rachael Holder explores the complexities of relationships and careers in her directorial debut. She drew from her own experiences, weaving cultural influences into the film. The story places a strong emphasis on Brooklyn, highlighting how our hometowns impact our lives. Holder filmed in Brooklyn, New York, and familiar locations.

The cinematography choices were excellent, evoking the city’s culture. You get to know the characters based on the space and design. I noticed the camera always captured large spaces, and yet the characters are trapped in a storm of thoughts.

Love, Brooklyn has a quiet atmosphere, but it’s screaming under the surface. This movie came out at the right time. I have never agreed more with the quote, “Grown-ups can be impossible.” That’s the exact definition of adulthood. It’s not an easy period as we face roadblocks, change, and independence.

One conversation that resonated during the interview was how everyone sees themselves in this film. It’s for everybody, no matter what race or gender. We’re all searching for the same things in life. Life can be tough, but it’s important to look past the gray and make an effort to try new things.

I know that if I had watched this film a decade ago, the message wouldn’t have had an impact on me. That’s how you know you’ve grown. Love, Brooklyn is a beautiful movie. It’s one of my favorite films from the festival this year.