Get Low
In this Southern folk yarn, a Tennessee hermit, played by Robert Duvall, emerges from the backwoods to host his own funeral.
Directed by Aaron Schneider
(PG-13)
***
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Get Low’s seemingly bizarre premise is based on a true-life tale, said Sheri Linden in the Los Angeles Times. In the late 1930s, after decades of hiding in the Tennessee backwoods, a recluse named Felix Breazeale emerged to throw himself a funeral—five years before his actual death. “In lesser hands this Southern saga might have collapsed into whimsical corn,” but director Aaron Schneider and his outstanding cast instead create a “deeply felt” folk yarn. As Felix, Robert Duvall proves he is “still able to carry a movie easily and gracefully,” said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. He is “vivid, enigmatic, and unpredictable” as he unveils his mysterious character. But the film meanders toward its melodramatic resolution, which turns out to be disappointing mainly because everything leading up to it has been “so richly and comfortably human.” Minor flaws are soon forgotten when watching the film’s superb actors, said Rex Reed in The New York Observer. Whether it involves Duvall, Sissy Spacek as Felix’s old flame, or Bill Murray as the funeral director, every scene is an “acting lesson.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The banned pesticide poisoning Caribbean paradise
Martinique and Guadeloupe have been rocked by soaring cancer rates amid other diagnoses
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - March 23, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - alphabet censorship, American de-education, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 unlawfully funny cartoons about the Executive vs the Judiciary
Cartoons Artists take on halting deportations, attacking judges, and more
By The Week US Published