Curator Watchlist
A sharp, painful, and darkly funny divorce drama that turns family collapse into a precise study of ego, imitation, and emotional damage. It’s especially rewarding if you like literate, character-driven films that are uncomfortable on purpose.
Where to watch: Buy
Wed · 1h 21m
Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
Noah Baumbach
Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg
A sharp, painful, and darkly funny divorce drama that turns family collapse into a precise study of ego, imitation, and emotional damage. It’s especially rewarding if you like literate, character-driven films that are uncomfortable on purpose.
The Squid and the Whale is one of those films that feels almost clinically observant about how a family can fracture while everyone still thinks they’re the smartest person in the room. Noah Baumbach stages the divorce not as melodrama but as a slow leak of resentment, vanity, and self-justification, with Brooklyn in the 1980s serving as a perfectly airless backdrop.
What makes it endure is the balance of wit and discomfort. The jokes land because the characters are so wounded, defensive, and ridiculous; the film never asks you to admire them, only to recognize them. Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are excellent, but the movie’s real sting comes from how the boys absorb and repeat the damage around them.
It’s not an easy watch, and that’s the point. If you respond to films that are emotionally exact, morally messy, and quietly devastating, this is a strong recommendation. If you need warmth, redemption, or a clean point of view, it may feel more punishing than pleasurable.
tru (5★) · 6837 likes
how has the entire fucking school never listened to pink floyd
Laura (4.5★) · 3043 likes
evidence that it only takes one therapy session for a pretentious teenage boy to stop idolizing their father
demi adejuyigbe · 2774 likes
It’s funny every single time Billy Baldwin says “brother.” Every time.
Karsten (3.5★) · 2773 likes
I'm gonna come clean, this is a super unlikeable film. Its characters are pretentious and unredeemable past the point of feeling any empathy, the soundtrack sounds exactly how you'd expect it to sound based off the poster, Jesse Eisenberg is in it...I mean, come on. It feels static but the underlying anger and toxicity of the situation is simultaneously always building till it reaches a point where it needs to come out. It feels real in a different way than what I'm used to. It's honest and it's different, I just wish I felt anything about it.
tru (4.5★) · 2232 likes
of course wes anderson produced this
A later Baumbach film that expands the same interest in divorce, ego, and the collateral damage of separation.
A classic divorce drama that similarly studies how adults’ choices reshape a child’s world.
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A painfully observant sibling drama about damaged family bonds and emotional obligation.
Baumbach’s other sharp family dissection, even more abrasive and emotionally raw.
A more broadly comic but still caustic ensemble about family resentment and old wounds resurfacing.
Captures generational alienation, sexual confusion, and the absurdity of adult behavior through a young person’s eyes.
A dry, cynical companion piece in tone for viewers who like bitterness and black comedy, though in a different register.
A family crisis story that balances pain, awkward humor, and the burden of parenting under pressure.
An incisive suburban drama about adult immaturity, desire, and the damage people do while pretending to be composed.
divorce, family dysfunction, coming of age, parental narcissism, emotional neglect, male insecurity, intellectual pretension, intergenerational damage
indie drama, dark comedy, family breakdown, coming-of-age, 1980s, Brooklyn, cringe humor, emotional realism, literary pretension, relationship dysfunction