Bookends

Bookends, dir. Mike Doyle, 2026, USA, 99 min.
Monday, June 22, 2026, 8:30 PM, Vogue
Friday, June 26, 2026, 12:30 PM, Vogue — second screening added!

Bookends

Frameline blurb: Nate is on top of the world. With a cute partner, fun New York friends, and big writing dreams, Nate is ready to fly. Until he crashes. Suddenly dumped by his boyfriend and totally broke, Nate crawls to the only people who will take him: his sweet, offbeat grandparents (played by Academy Award® winner F. Murray Abraham and Caroline Aaron). Despite their own major life complications, Grandpa Saul and Grandma Miriam welcome him to their lovely Jewish old folks’ home.

Searching for meaning amid the seniors, Nate discovers unexpected connections and unearthed emotions — not to mention an exciting new romance with his grandparents’ hunky doctor (Charlie Barnett, Russian Doll, 💖 Private Romeo, Frameline35, 🤩 The Happy Sad, Frameline37). Written by Noam Ash, who also plays Nate, and directed by Mike Doyle (whose feature debut 👎 Sell By [later renamed Almost Love] played at Frameline43), Bookends unfolds with a funny, realistic touch, but doesn’t shy away from real world hurdles, including the fragility of family bonds, the unsettling darkness of dementia, and the distress of being alone. With its amusing energy, colorful characters, and unique setting, Bookends digs beneath the surface to ask big questions about identity and belonging.

My take: I liked Bookends far more than Sell By (a.k.a. Almost Love), but that’s an extremely low bar, given that I gave the previous film a rating of “enthusiastically not recommended.” I did find Nate irritatingly, almost relentlessly, high strung. He is driven to pursue his goals for a perfect life: writing a book and having a perfect relationship. It turns out that he’s not that good at either, overthinking everything to the nth degree while clutching his preconceptions like a security blanket. But Nate does finally soften near the end, and the grandparents are a calming influence, especially compared to Nate’s New York City friends. It’s a pretty good comedy with some outstanding performances, especially by the grandparents, so I’ll say highly recommended.

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