#1322a: MILLS, Mike: Beginners (2010)

MILLS, Mike (United States)

Beginners [2010]

Spine #1322a

Filmmaker Mike Mills was inspired by his own father’s coming out late in life to shape a clear-eyed look at how our family histories quietly inform all of our relationships. When Hal (Christopher Plummer, in an Academy Award–winning performance) reveals he is gay at the age of seventy-five, his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor), gets the chance to know a more vulnerable version of his father. In the second of the film's two interwoven time periods, Oliver meets Anna (Mélanie Laurent) soon after his father’s death, beginning a romance that is informed by the risks and honesty of Hal’s final years. Balancing dry humor and DIY charm, Beginners extends an uncommon generosity to its characters—still figuring themselves out at all stages of life.

104 minutes
5.1 Surround

Color
1:85:1

Criterion Release 2026