By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Sophy Romvari
Starring: Ádám Tompa | Amy Zimmer | Edik Beddoes | Eylul Guven | Iringó Réti
Year: 2026
Running time: 91
IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt32252801/
Peter says: “It’s not bad having your debut feature film released on the prestigious Janus Films label, showing in the historic Brattle Theater where Janus Films was born nonetheless – but Sophy Romvari’s delicately heavy drama is definitely worthy of that distinction!
“Blue Heron nonlinearly explores the goings on of a Vancouver family of Hungarian immigrants broken by the dangerous behavior of their son and brother, Jeremy. Clearly inspired by Romvari’s actual childhood, the film has that same nostalgic, elusive quality that made Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun such a quietly powerful little film. With intriguing camera choices of what to both show and not show, Romvari does an excellent job picking pieces of herself and refracting it into cinematic form.
While the actual plotting of the film can be mildly frustrating and does not hold your hand with orienting the viewer in time, it’s still an emotionally resonant film that resulted in some sniffles from my audience (one of my friends reportedly SOBBED!). It’s a story that cuts deep for a lot of people, with that one child who just can’t get the help they really need, and Blue Heron artfully navigates the idea of reflecting on and processing such a confusing and difficult relationship growing up.
“4 out of 5 Cats 😺”
Cassian says: “A film about a girl attempting to reconcile with her older brother’s troubled childhood. Silently devastating and beautifully shot. BLUE HERON was a masterpiece among IFFB’s lineup. I was blown away by Romvari’s courageous vulnerability on the screen and in person at the Q&A. 4.75 cats.
Michael says: “The high point of the festival for me. Quietly blown away by this gorgeous, yet devastating autobiographical story about director Sophy Romvari’s Hungarian family living on Vancouver Island in the 1980’s. The first half is naturalistic and lush, shot with natural light, with scenes of children playing and excursions to the beach while a sense of turmoil and menace lingers between the surface. Then a startling shift moves us forward in time by a couple of decades before bringing the two times together in a powerful meta scene that overlays reality with fiction.
“The story is told through the point of view of the young daughter, a stand-in for the director, as her oldest brother struggles with mental illness. Their Polish immigrant parents do their best to manage the situation but are clearly out of their depth, and as the story introduces more documentary-focused scenes before melding doc and narrative, the story takes a somber turn. 4 3/4 cats
“As much as I enjoyed this film, Sophy Romvari’s assured and lovely talkback afterwards made me love it even more. A true accomplishment.
“Screened at the Brattle Theatre, IFFBoston 2026”
Aaron says: “The plot synopsis for Blue Heron is promising: a Hungarian immigrant family’s hopeful move to Vancouver Island unravels as their troubled eldest son’s increasingly dangerous behavior is witnessed through the fragmented childhood memories of his younger sister. The early rave reviews were even more promising. As much as a 3-cat review can be called downbeat, I found this to be the biggest disappointment of the festival.
“Writer-director Sophy Romvari has a sensitive, observational touch, and for an autobiographical subject, her reach demonstrates a clear-eyed empathy for her other family members. But Romvari takes the film in a meta direction. I’m not against meta filmmaking—Stories We Tell is one of my all-time favorites—and in Blue Heron, it’s a nervy decision that seems primed to take us to deeper places. The problem is that the narrative wrinkle creates too much distance between the characters and the audience, over-intellectualizing intimate family material without the insight needed to sustain the shift.
“In the Q&A, Romvari had no end of insights. At one point, she described the psychological rationale behind a memorably ‘bifurcated’ shot of the parents, and it gave me chills. Unfortunately, that rigor can also feel like a crutch: Romvari becomes so absorbed in the film’s formal architecture that her family’s emotional reality slips out of reach. 3 cats“
Diane says: “And I am giving it 5 cats! (Just saw it at Boston’s AMC.) I loved how much I had to bring to the film, the freedom the director gave herself, the topic of parenting a mentally ill child, and another child’s desire to mitigate her parents’ feelings of guilt and failure. I am really excited about BLUE HERON. Noms for Movie, Editing, Director… The only aspect I didn’t like was the sound design: it seemed overdone, both sound effects and music.
“Thanks to all who reviewed this one.”
Chris says: “‘Write what you know’ has achieved cliché status but it’s still valuable advice for anyone telling a story no matter how fantastical or accurately reflective of one’s own experience. At IFFBoston this year, I saw at least two features falling under this category: Romeria and Blue Heron. Both begin steeped in realism before unexpectedly shifting into dream sequences. The former imagines a meeting between the main character and her parents from before her birth; the latter, however, presents something more complex, using a sort of psychodrama to reinterpret a defining incident from one’s past.
“In Blue Heron, filmmaker Sophy Romvari’s 1990s childhood comes to life in the form of a Hungarian family settling into a new home on Vancouver Island. Her surrogate, Sasha (Eylul Guven) is the youngest of four children and the only one to be born in Canada. Heroldest brother, Jeremy (Erik Beddoes) blatantly doesn’t resemble any of his siblings, much less his parents (his actual father was someone whom his mother previously dated; he didn’t have any involvement in raising him.) As the rest of the family studiously works on assimilating into this new environment, Jeremy acts out. At first, his behavior is that of your average frustrated teen (moody, argumentative). Then, it escalates. He gets caught shoplifting. He climbs on his home’s roof, refusing to come down. He smashes his hand through a window. He refuses to communicate, at all. His family becomes worried for his safety, and also their own.
“The shift from a near-neorealism to a far more dreamlike scenario occurs when Sasha as an adult (played by Amy Zimmer) appears and attempts piecing together the decisive actions her parents took to deal with Jeremy. I don’t want to spoil exactly what happens, for it unfolds as an act of discovery but also one of analysis, sifting through facts to arrive at some conclusion even if it’s a subjective truth. Romvari paints as an impressionist, dotting her frames with cultural signifiers both shared (pop songs, ambient sounds, suburban talismans such as freshly cut grass) and singular (the elaborate fake maps Jeremy draws which are actual ones from Romvari’s own brother.) As a filmmaker/storyteller, Romvari fully grasps the slipperiness of memory. Following a series of acclaimed shorts, Blue Heron is a remarkable first feature due to such an understanding and her ingenuity in expressing it. 4.5 cats
“(Currently in theatrical release.)”