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The Actor
Directed by
Duke Johnson
R
2025
1h 38m
Crime
,
Drama
,
and more
5.5
80%
88%
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When New York actor Paul Cole is beaten and left for dead in 1950s Ohio, he loses his memory and finds himself stranded in a mysterious small town where he struggles to get back home and reclaim what he's lost.
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Where to Watch The Actor
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Rent $5.99
Buy $12.99
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Buy $12.99
+3 more
Cast of The Actor
André Holland
Paul Cole
Gemma Chan
Edna
May Calamawy
May / Benny's Girl / Mattie / Rita / Karen / Lady
Tracey Ullman
Mrs. Malloy / Helen / Deerville Woman
Toby Jones
Lieutenant Murray / Artie Bellman / Cabbie / Arnold
Simon McBurney
Doctor Croft / Doctor Edgarton
Joe Cole
Nick / Director
Tanya Reynolds
Judy / Set Dresser / Hailey / Clerk / Frances
Olwen Fouéré
Judge / Old Lady / Neighbor / Wardrobe Woman / Old Man
Edward Hogg
Hotel Clerk / Bartender / Makeup Artist
Youssef Kerkour
Black Jack / Ed / Defense Attorney / Dock Worker
Asim Chaudhry
Little Jack / Fred / Herbie / Dock Worker
Fabien Frankel
Scott Alexander Young
Cassie Lauren Lewis
Mrs. Wilson
Jonathan King
Mr. Wilson
Harry Chaskin
Announcer
Thomas Dominique
Phil
Kevin Miles
Patrick
Camille Chen
Edith
Kata Sarbó
Beatnik Girl
Duke Johnson
Arnold / Director / Writer / Producer
Donald E. Westlake
Writer
Stephen Cooney
Writer
Abigail Spencer
Producer
Paul Young
Producer
Ken Kao
Producer
The Actor Ratings & Reviews
FilmWeek (LAist)
Peter Rainer
The theatricality of this movie... worked pretty well.
In Review Online
Christian Craig
It's a risky gambit, one certain to alienate the percentage of The Actor's audience bent on unspooling a cogent narrative from the movie's tangled ambitions, but the strength of Holland's performance offers firm footing.
InSession Film
JD Duran
There is plenty to be found here with Paul and his deep fear of losing his identity. And his desperation to find it, even when you only have the ability to see yourself through the eyes of other people.
Common Sense Media
Jeffrey M. Anderson
This is an unusual, fascinating movie, taking the main character's iffy memory as a visual theme and creating an unreal atmosphere in which, despite moments of peace, things seem to be a bit off.
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Surreal thriller that relates identity to memory.
Mashable
Siddhant Adlakha
Like [its lead character], the movie lacks a distinct sense of self. All the lighting cues in the world can't make up for a story about a person granted no personhood by the camera.
InSession Film
Will Bjarnar
While no one in The Actor is exactly playing against type, that's specifically because its titular character struggles to know what his "type" is meant to be.
Spectrum Culture
Tanner Gordon
Intriguingly off-beat, Johnson's solo directorial debut is so caught up in emulating a disorienting effect that it never transcends feeling like an imitation of its obvious influences.
Culture Mix
Carla Hay
The Actor is an intriguing blend of retro noir and sci-fi drama. This adaptation of Donald E. Westlake's Memory novel (about an actor who has amnesia) has a more optimistic ending than the book but still demonstrates how identity is rooted in memories.
MovieWeb
Julian Roman
The Actor is a true film experience - artistically and intellectually gripping, or confusing and boring, depending on the audience. The arthouse crowd will surely gush while the Average Joe may want to steer clear.
Wall Street Journal
Zachary Barnes
While Mr. Holland is a clear talent with a screen presence at once natural and vivid, his character is passive to the point of emptiness.
Loud and Clear Reviews
Roberto Tyler Ortiz
It's a film that leaves you admiring its craft but wishing for more: more depth, more engagement, more to hold onto beyond its aesthetics.
RogerEbert.com
Brian Tallerico
An undeniably haunting piece of work, a story that's out of place and time in a world that's like our own but not quite. Rod Serling would have dug it.
New York Times
Jeannette Catsoulis
Scenes snap off, as if the thread of events between has evaporated, and this sense of being unmoored pervades Holland's beautifully controlled performance.
The Daily Beast
Nick Schager
Burdened by a hazy and mannered style that drains it of urgency and feeling, it's a self-conscious curio that's less dreamy than dreary.
Los Angeles Times
Amy Nicholson
Johnson has bent the novel inside out and turned it into, of all things, a romance.
TheWrap
Chase Hutchinson
If films are going to ask us to dream with them, there ought to be more that look and feel like what Johnson delicately achieves here.
Variety
Ryan Swen
The concept feels underexplored in favor of a more rote character study, with Paul frequently reduced to stating his bewilderment about the nature of his past self, as opposed to actually feeling it.
The Hollywood Reporter
Lovia Gyarkye
Holland and Chan's chemistry makes it easy to invest in Paul's relationship with Edna; their romance is compelling and poignant... One only wishes that all these elements amounted to a film that didn't feel so diffuse.
IndieWire
David Ehrlich
Cuttingly funny at times, "The Actor" isn't much interested in answering any of those questions, but this semi-inert death trip of a film teases a certain pull from its cosmic uncertainty.
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