Stars at Noon

Dir. Claire Denis. 2022, 137 mins. DCP. With Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, Danny Ramirez, John C. Reilly. Denis’s distinctively Denisian take on the erotic political thriller stars Qualley as a marooned American journalist and Alwyn as the shifty English dealmaker with whom she becomes entangled in ethically unstable Nicaragua. Based on Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel, Stars at Noon retains a seedy, sweaty ’80s aesthetic yet is set in the present day—there’s even a crucial sequence set in a roadside COVID testing tent—and the disorientation extends to a pervadingly fluid sense of history, politics, and identity throughout. Qualley dives headlong into a character whose brashness and sexual confidence disguise a deepening powerlessness, and Safdie turns up as if commuting directly from an episode of Miami Vice, a motormouth menace of doom.   

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.